[Amnesic syndrome caused by limited infarction in the right anterior thalamus]

A case of global and persistent amnesia due to a right polar and anterior thalamic infarction is reported. There was a moderate impairment of attention and categorization ability. The amnesia was primarily anterograde, with partial disturbance of short-term memory and severe deficit of long-term memory for verbal and visuo-spatial materials. A severe increase of pro-active interference was present. Retrograde memory was mildly affected. Two years later, a second infarction in the right thalamo-sub-thalamic territory occurred, increasing the deficits of attention, short-term memory and recall.