Lost in the Present: Anterograde Amnesia and Medical Decision Making Capacity - Open Journal of Medical Psychology

OJMP > Vol.3 No.1, January 2014

Lost in the Present: Anterograde Amnesia and Medical Decision Making Capacity ()

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DOI: 10.4236/ojmp.2014.31007 4,179 Downloads 6,838 Views

Author(s)

John McKelvie, Christopher A. Pierce, Thomas M. Dunn, Philippe Weintraub, Robert M. House

Affiliation(s)

Behavioral Health Service, Denver Health Medical Center, Denver, USA.
Palm Desert VA Clinic, VA Loma Linda Health Care System, Palm Desert, USA.

ABSTRACT

Although there have been a limited number of case reports of human bilateral hippocampal injury, none of these have addressed the impact of such injuries on medical decision making capacity. The authors present a case of an elderly man with discrete bilateral hippocampal injury. As a result of his injury, the patient was hopelessly “lost in the present” and only retained the basic cognitive functions necessary to have decision making capacity for a limited period of time. He was unable to appreciate the nature of his injury, the potential risks involved in his decisions, and the recommended course of treatment longer than a few minutes. The patient’s resultant neurocognitive deficits left him lacking medical decision making capacity, a likely outcome for patients with persistent anterograde amnesia.

KEYWORDS

Bilateral Hippocampal Injury; Anterograde Amnesia; Capacity; Medical Decision Making Capacity; Episodic Memory; Prospective Brain

Share and Cite:

J. McKelvie, C. Pierce, T. Dunn, P. Weintraub and R. House, "Lost in the Present: Anterograde Amnesia and Medical Decision Making Capacity," Open Journal of Medical Psychology, Vol. 3 No. 1, 2014, pp. 54-59. doi: 10.4236/ojmp.2014.31007.

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