Primary objective: To determine the neuropsychological profile of persons with anoxic brain injury.
Methods and procedures: A retrospective study on a population of persons with anoxic brain injury admitted to a Brain Injury Unit (Institut Guttmann, Spain) from 1995-2003. The sample was divided according to physiopathological mechanisms in two sub-groups: ischemic anoxia (21 cases) and hypoxemic anoxia (11 cases). Functions assessed included orientation, attention, language, visuo-perceptive and visuo-constructive processing and verbal memory.
Results: Neuropsychological assessment showed diffuse cognitive impairment in all assessed functions. Episodes of ischemic anoxia caused more severe verbal memory and learning problems than episodes of hypoxemic anoxia.
Conclusions: This study shows that memory problems are the most prominent and relevant impairment, although all other cognitive functions are also impaired, affecting both memory itself and general behaviour. Statistical analysis also provides preliminary evidence on the different profile of memory impairment whether cerebral anoxia had hypoxic or ischemic origin.