A Case of Amnesia after SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Authors

  • Virgínia Henriques Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hospital Central do Funchal https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9715-5903
  • Maria da Paz Saldanha Vieira Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hospital Central do Funchal
  • Ana Célia Gonçalves Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Hospital Central do Funchal
  • Carina Freitas Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Madeira, Campus Universitário da Penteada; Interdisciplinary Health Research Center, Portuguese Catholic University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3713-9386

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25753/BirthGrowthMJ.v34.i3.32005

Keywords:

adolescent mental health and COVID-19, COVID-19 and mental health, memory disorders and COVID-19, psychiatric disorders and COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2 infection

Abstract

Introduction: SARS-CoV-2 infection can manifest with neuropsychiatric symptoms since the virus can reach the central nervous system. As for the occurrence of memory disorders in these patients, data are very scarce in the literature.
Case Description: We describe the clinical case of a male adolescent who presented amnesia after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The amnesia had a peculiar pattern, not described in the literature. The neurological exam and complementary diagnostic exams showed no changes. The most likely diagnosis was Dissociative Amnesia. The patient was medicated with psychotropic drugs, with remission of symptoms.
Discussion: Psychiatric disorders have been associated with COVID-19 infection, as well as with the pandemic state itself. It is assumed that the etiology of amnesia could be multifactorial: due to the direct effect of the virus and due to the negative impact associated with the pandemic. With this case report, we question the role of SARS-CoV-2 infection in mental health.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Casey P, Kelly B. Fish’s Clinical Psychopathology: Signs and Symptoms in Psychiatry. Third edition. RCPsych Publications. 2007.

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition. American Psychiatric Association. 2013.

World Health Organization. International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/icd/icd10.htm.

Whittaker A, Anson M, Harky A. Neurological Manifestations of COVID‐19: A systematic review and current update. Acta Neurol Scand. July 2020;142(1):14–22.

Troyer EA, Kohn JN, Hong S. Are we facing a crashing wave of neuropsychiatric sequelae of COVID-19? Neuropsychiatric symptoms and potential immunologic mechanisms. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. July 2020;87:34–9.

Ramanathan RS, Wachsman A. Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) Related Acute Stroke Causing Transient Global Amnesia. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. May 2021;30(5):105738.

Werner R, Keller M, Woehrle JC. Increased incidence of transient global amnesia during the Covid-19 crisis? Neurol Res Pract. December 2020;2(1):26.

Rogers JP, Chesney E, Oliver D, Pollak TA, McGuire P, Fusar-Poli P, et al. Psychiatric and Neuropsychiatric Presentations Associated with Severe Coronavirus Infections: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis with Comparison to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Lancet Psychiatry. July 2020; 7:611-27.

Szcześniak D, Gładka A, Misiak B, Cyran A, Rymaszewska J. The SARS-CoV-2 and mental health: from biological mechanisms to social consequences. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry. 104 (2021) 110046.

Tizenberg BN, Brenner LA, Lowry CA, Okusaga OO, Benavides DR, Hoisington AJ, et al. Biological and Psychological Factors Determining Neuropsychiatric Outcomes in COVID-19. Curr Psychiatry Rep. October 2021;23(10):68.

Taquet M, Luciano S, Geddes JR, Harrison PJ. Bidirectional associations between COVID-19 and psychiatric disorder: retrospective cohort studies of 62 354 COVID-19 cases in the USA. Lancet Psychiatr. 2020. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30462-4.

Ceban F, Ling S, Lui LMW, Lee Y, Gill H, Teopiz KM, et al. Fatigue and cognitive impairment in Post-COVID-19 Syndrome: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity. March 2022;101:93–135.

Zhou SJ, Zhang LG, Wang LL, Guo ZC, Wang JQ, Chen JC, et al. Prevalence and socio-demographic correlates of psychological health problems in Chinese adolescents during the outbreak of COVID-19. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. June de 2020;29(6):749–58.

da Costa CV, Ticló SS, Ferreira-Carvalho R, Delgado RM, Lobarinhas MJ, Teixeira G, et al. Avaliação de Sintomas Psiquiátricos Durante o Confinamento no Contexto da Pandemia COVID‑19 numa População Clínica Pedopsiquiátrica. RPPSM. 5 de março de 2021;(1):9–21.

Downloads

Published

2025-09-30

How to Cite

1.
Henriques V, Saldanha Vieira M da P, Gonçalves AC, Freitas C. A Case of Amnesia after SARS-CoV-2 Infection. BGMJ [Internet]. 2025 Sep. 30 [cited 2025 Dec. 6];34(3):137-41. Available from: https://revistas.rcaap.pt/bgmj/article/view/32005

Issue

Vol. 34 No. 3 (2025)

Section

Clinical Case Reports

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Virgínia Henriques, Maria da Paz Saldanha Vieira, Ana Célia Gonçalves, Carina Freitas

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

All articles published in the Birth and Growth Medical Journal are Open Access and meet the requirements of funding agencies and academic institutions. Third-party use of published content is permitted under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license. It is the responsibility of authors to obtain permission for reproducing figures, tables, or other materials from previously published works.

Authors must submit a Conflict of Interest statement and an Authorship Form together with their manuscript. A confirmation email will be sent to the corresponding author upon receipt of the submission. Authors are also permitted to deposit their articles in institutional or personal repositories, provided that the original publication in the Birth and Growth Medical Journal is clearly indicated and the terms of the Creative Commons license are respected.