First Aid: Cognitive Disorders Flashcards
List the 3 main categories of cognitive disorders.
- Dementia
- Delirium
- Amnestic disorders
List the 3 main categories of cognitive disorders.
- Dementia
- Delirium
- Amnestic disorders
What is a perfect score on an MMSE?
30
What is considered dysfunction on an MMSE?
Impairment of memory and other cognitive functions without alteration in the level of consciousness.
Dementia
What percentage of people >80 yo have a severe form of dementia?
20%
What percentage of demented patients get delusions and hallucinations?
30%
What percentage of demented patients have affective symptoms (depression and anxiety)?
40-50%
What are the 3 most common causes of dementia?
- Alzheimer’s disease (50-60%)
- Vascular dementia (10-20%)
- Major depression (pseudodementia)
What percent of demented patients have a treatable and potentially reversible condition?
15%
What is the minimum workup to exclude reversible causes of dementia? (6)
- CBC
- Electrolytes
- TFTs
- VDRL/RPR
- B12 and folate
- Brain CT or MRI
Dementia with stepwise increase in severity + focal neurological signs
Multi-infarct dementia
How do you diagnose multi-infarct dementia?
CT/MRI
Dementia with cogwheel rigidity + resting tremor
Lewy Body Dementia/ Parkinson’s Disease
How do you diagnose Lewy Body Dementia/ Parkinson’s Disease?
clinical
Dementia with ataxia + urinary incontinence + dilated cerebral ventricles
Normal pressure hydrocephalus
How do you diagnose normal pressure hydrocephalus?
CT/MRI
Dementia with obesity + coarse hair + constipation + cold intolerance
Hypothyroidism
How do you diagnose hypothyroidism?
T4, TSH
Dementia with diminished position/vibration sense + megaloblasts on the CBC
Vitamin B12 deficiency
Dementia + tremor + abnormal liver enzymes + Kayser-Fleischer rings
Wilson’s disease
How do you diagnose Wilson’s disease?
Ceruloplasmin
Dementia + diminished position and vibration sense + Argyll-Roberston pupils
Neurosyphilis
What are Argyll-Robertson pupils?
pupils that accommodate and constrict but do not react to light
How do you diagnose neurosyphilis?
CSF FTA-ABS or CSF VDRL
What is the hallmark of delirium?
waxing and waning of consciousness
What are the 2 types of delirium?
Quiet
Agitated
What is used to diagnose delirium?
- Memorial Delirium Assessment Scale
- CAM
What is the treatment for delirium?
- Rule out life-threatening causes
- Treat reversible causes
- Antipsychotics: Quetiapine or Haloperidol PO/IM (not IV unless connected to heart monitor as TdP may occur)
- Avoid napping
- Keep lights on, shades open during day
What are the negatives of using benzodiazepines on a patient with delirium?
- Can cause paradoxical disinhibition
- Respiratory depression
- Increased risk of falls
What is the differential for delirium?
AEIOU TIPS
- Alcohol
- Electrolytes
- Iatrogenic
- Oxygen hypoxia
- Uremia/hepatic encephalopathy
- Trauma
- Infection
- Poisons
- Seizure (post-ictal)
How long does delirium last?
3 days to 2 weeks
Orientation is impaired in delirium or dementia?
both! (dementia patients can sometimes remain oriented)
What type of memory is impaired in delirium?
immediate and recent memory
What type of memory is impaired in dementia?
Recent and remote memory
Hallucinations more commonly occur in delirium or dementia?
delirium (usually visual)
Symptoms are worse at night in delirium or dementia?
delirium
EEG changes (fast waves or generalized slowing) is seen in delirium or dementia?
delirium
What is the most common dementia? What percent?
Alzheimers (80% of all dementias)
What is the incidence of Alzheimer’s disease in people > 85?
25%
What gender more commonly gets Alzheimer’s?
women > men
What is the average life expectancy after diagnosis for an Alzheimer’s patient?
8 years
What percentage of patients with Alzheimer’s have a family history?
40%
What is the clinical hallmark of Alzheimer’s?
gradual progressive decline of cognitive functions, especially memory and language
What is the DSM-IV criteria for Alzheimer’s disease?
Memory impairment plus at least one of the following:
- Aphasia
- Apraxia
- Agnosia
- Diminished executive functioning
What is aphasia?
disorder of language affecting speech and understanding
What is apraxia?
inability to perform purposeful movements