Review Article
Year: 2020 | Month: September | Volume: 10 | Issue: 9 | Pages: 212-220
Delirium (Clinical Presentation, Diagnosis and Treatment): Updates for Neurologists and Psychiatrists
Gayane Kirakosyan, Alina Frolova
Regional Referral Psychiatric Hospital, Odesa, Odesa Oblast, Ukraine
Corresponding Author: Gayane Kirakosyan
ABSTRACT
Delirium is a sudden change in the way a person thinks and acts. People with delirium cannot concentrate on what is happening around them, and their thinking becomes disorganized. This can cause fear in the person with delirium, their family, caregivers and friends. The dominant symptom of delirium is impaired consciousness, which is manifested by a false orientation in the environment, as well as attention disorders. Delirium can be developed within hours or days. Symptoms may come and go. The most common causes include hypoglycemia, metabolic disorders, hypoxia, infections (meningitis, pneumonia, sepsis, etc.), cardiovascular diseases, cerebrovascular accidents, epilepsy, uremia, liver failure (hepatic encephalopathy), head injuries, hormonal disorders and burns. Certain circumstances may increase the risk of developing delirium. The best way to treat delirium is to find and treat its cause. Sometimes it takes a lot of tests to determine the cause of the disease. This review article discusses current trends in classification, clinical presentation, diagnosis and treatment of delirium. Provided information should be helpful for practicing psychiatrists, neurologists, ICU specialists and general physicians.
Key words: Delirium, cognitive impairment, clouding of consciousness, neuropsychiatry, neurology, psychiatric disorders, stroke, cerebrovascular accident.