Delirium Flashcards

1
Q

what are the portions of delirium?

A

disturbance in attention/awareness

disturbance in cognition

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2
Q

what must be present for a patient to be diagnosed with delirium?

A

evidence of medical condition, substance intoxication/withdrawal, or medication side effect

an underlying cause

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3
Q

delirium = ___ _____ ____ = _____

A

acute confusional state
encephalopathy

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4
Q

in which patients is delirium typically present in?

A

inpatient settings/sick patients

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5
Q

what can reverse delirium?

A

cholinesterase inhibitors (physostigmine)

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6
Q

what underlying brain disease is the largest risk factor for delirium?

A

dementia

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7
Q

what are 6 symptoms a patient with delirium may present with?

A

distractibility
tangential/disorganized speech
drowsy
decrease in cognition
perceptual disturbance
language difficulties

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8
Q

what symptom will be present in a patient that is going through alcohol or sedative drug withdrawl?

A

hypervigilance

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9
Q

what is the onset of delirium?

A

acute

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10
Q

what are the 4 criteria in which a patient with delirium would not need neuroimaging?

A

obvious treatable illness
no evidence of trauma
no new focal neuro signs
arousable and follows simple commands

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11
Q

what should be ordered if a patient’s delirium has an unknown cause OR if the patient doesn’t improve as expected following treatment of known cause?

A

Head CT

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12
Q

a patient’s head CT is negative. what should be ordered next? why?

A

MRI head
acute ischemic stroke, lesions

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13
Q

what diagnostic is manadatory if the cause of delirium is unknown, especially if the patient is febrile?

A

LP

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14
Q

what diagnostic can be used to exlude seizures as a cause and can confirm the diagnosis of metabolic or infectious encephalopathies?

A

EEG

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15
Q

characterized by thiamine deficiency

A

wernicke encephalopathy

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16
Q

what is the most common case of thimaine deficiency?

A

alcholism

17
Q

what is the symptom triad of wernicke encephalopathy?

A

confusion
ataxia (no coordination)
ophthalmoplegia (horizontal nystagmus)

18
Q

what is the treatment for wernicke encephalopathy?

A

500mg thiamine IV tid x 3 days
then
200mg IV x 3 days

19
Q

characterized by anterograde and retrograde amnesia with confabulation (grandiose story telling)

A

korsakoff syndrome