Study reveals British man suffered permanent amnesia following root canal procedure

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A study carried out by researchers at the University of Leicester has revealed that a British man suffered permanent amnesia following routine root canal treatment in Germany. The patient, who is referred to as WO in the study, awoke with the ability to remember things that happened within the last 90 minutes and every day, he wakes thinking that it is the same day he had his operation in 2005.

In a unique study, which has been published in Neurocase, researchers analysed the case. Gerald Burgess, lead author, admitted that his research team had never come across anything like this before; the patient, WO, was referred to him almost a decade ago following the incident. At the time Mr Burgess was working as a clinical psychologist.

On the day of the procedure in March 2005, the man was living and working in Germany; he had joined the army at the age of 17 and was stationed in Germany having served in the Gulf War. He was married and the couple has two children. He had no record of mental illness and there is no evidence to suggest that he sustained any injuries during the root canal procedure.

The patient’s dental notes stated that WO was vacant and pale and he had slow speech after the procedure and he was admitted to hospital because his condition wasn’t improving. It was then established that he only had a very limited memory; at first, he could only remember the last 10 minutes and this gradually improved to 90 minutes. All the CT and MRI scans came back clear.

The patient has now moved back to the UK and he recognises his home and the immediate area, but still expresses surprise when he wakes up at his mum’s house every morning and believes that every day is the day of the root canal procedure in March 2005. With the help of his wife and an electric diary, he is able to keep track of his day to day movements, but he can still only retain things that have happened to him for 90 minutes.

Mr Burgess believes that the memory loss may be linked to changes, which affect the structure and the networks within the brain. He has urged anyone who has a similar experience to contact him, as he would like to continue with his investigations.

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