Delirium & Dementia

Question 1

Name some key features of delirium.

Answer 1

Acute disturbance of arousal/attention affecting multiple systems; aka acute confusional state

Question 2

What differentiates dementia from mild cognitive impairment?

Answer 2

Mild cognitive impairment does NOT cause functional impairment but does meet definition of dementia otherwise

Question 3

What concept can the different etiologies of delirium be traced down to?

Answer 3

Failure of brains cells to work properly (due to lack of necessary fuels, etc.)

Question 4

How is Lewy body dementia different from Alzheimer’s dementia?

Answer 4

AD patients have memory problems associated with memory storage and LBD patients have problems associated with memory retrieval

Question 5

How is Lewy body dementia different from Parkinson’s dementia?

Answer 5

Cognitive symptoms begin at the same time or within a year of Parkinson symptoms in LBD but dementia onset is much later (> 1 year) than Parkinson symptom onset in PD

Question 6

What pharmacologic treatments, although last resort, can be used for delirium treatment?

Answer 6

Atypical antipsychotics

Question 7

What medications can be used for dementia treatment?

Answer 7

Donepezil, rivastigmine, galantimine (cholinesterase inhibitors - cholinomimetics) & mementine (NMDA antagonist)