[Korsakoff's syndrome secondary to left thalamic bleeding].
Korsakoff's syndrome is characterised by an important impairment in memory in comparison to other cognitive functions. Presence of confabulations is frequent but they are not characteristic of this syndrome. Alcohol abuse is the main cause of this syndrome but it also has been associated to other causes, like malnutrition or structural lesions. Although the role of thalamus in memory processing is well established, the development of confabulations in the setting of a thalamic lesion is poorly described in the literature. We present a 61 year-old hypertensive man, with an important impairment in anterograde memory, confabulations and acalculia after a left thalamic haemorrhage. Other cognitive functions were intact except a partial temporal disorientation. Thalamic dementia is generally caused by bilateral thalamic damage. Usually, all cognitive functions are impaired. As thalamus takes part in Papez's circuit, either thalamic nuclei or their connections lesions may originate memory impairment. However, although a relation between the presence of confabulations and connections from thalamus to frontal lobe lesions has been described, there is almost no evidence in the literature.
Bermejo Velasco
P E
PE
Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Universitario Puerta de Hierro, Madrid. pedro_bermejo@hotmail.com
Ruiz Huete
C
C
D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D020915:Korsakoff Syndrome / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013786:Thalamic Diseases / Q000150:complications*