Hyperbaric oxygenation in the treatment of postencephalitic amnesic syndrome

The efficacy of hyperbaric oxygenation in the treatment of an amnesic disorder was studied in a young woman with a residual memory impairment 2 years after Herpes Simplex Encephalitis. Quantitative testing of memory was performed under controlled conditions before, during, and immediately following treatment. There was no systematic change in storage and retrieval of either verbal or essentially nonverbal information when testing was performed during hyperbaric oxygenation or after termination of four daily treatment sessions. The findings support recent studies which have indicated a lack of therapeutic effects of hyperbaric oxygenation on the mental efficiency of older demented patients.