Acute amnestic syndrome in isolated bilateral fornix stroke.

BACKGROUND: Acute onset of amnestic syndrome may represent a challenging diagnostic issue. Besides non-vascular etiology, thalamic strokes or infarction involving several temporal lobe structures has been reported. PATIENTS: We describe three patients in whom an isolated bilateral anterior fornix infarction presented with an acute amnestic syndrome. Clinical presentation, differential diagnosis and MR images are discussed for each patient and vascular anatomy of the involved brain regions is also considered. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that bilateral fornix infarction should always be considered in the diagnostic work-up of an amnestic syndrome with acute onset.