A 69-Year-Old Man Is Brought to the Emergency Department After

question 312

Multiple Choice

A 69-year-old man is brought to the emergency department after he was found by police trying to break into the back office of a grocery store, claiming that he worked there and that he had left his keys in the office.  The owner of the grocery denied that the patient was employed there but thought that she recognized him as a regular patron.  The patient's medical problems include hypertension, hyperlipidemia, major depressive disorder, alcohol use disorder, and type 2 diabetes mellitus.  Family history is significant for Alzheimer disease on both sides of the family.  Temperature is 37 C (98.6 F) , blood pressure is 135/86 mm Hg, pulse is 82/min, and respirations are 12/min.  The patient answers questions without difficulty but provides conflicting information to different examiners.  He is unable to account for how he ended up in the grocery store; however, he does provide detailed accounts of his previous job as an English professor, even reciting Shakespeare's Macbeth at length.  He does not appear troubled by his inability to recall events accurately.  The remainder of the examination is within normal limits.  Which of the following is the most likely explanation for this patient's symptoms?

• A)Alzheimer disease
• B)Dissociative amnesia
• C)Korsakoff syndrome
• D)Marchiafava-Bignami disease
• E)Transient global amnesia
• F)Vascular dementia
• G)Wernicke encephalopathy