Neuro: Change in MS Flashcards
Acute confused state that is likely reversible and fluctuates over hours or days.
Delirium
Encephalopathy, MS change, ICU psychosis are all synonyms for what?
Delirium
What is required for delirium to be diagnosed at bedside?
Has to be acute onset with fluctuating course AND
inattention accompanied by disorganized thinking OR altered level of consciousness
Hallmark of delirium
Deficit in attention
Alcohol withdrawal can produce hallucinations, agitation, ANS changes that are classified as what?
Hyperactive delirium
Opiate intoxication can produce withdrawn patients that are classified as what?
Hypoactive delirium
True or False: We have a screening tool to assess who is at risk for delirium.
False
What surgery increases risk of delirium?
Cardiac bypass
True or false: delirium is caused by a focal brain lesion.
False. It is more likely caused by widespread cerebral dysfunction (cortical and subcortical regions)
What might you find on an EEG in someone with delirium?
systemic slowing
What meds can bring out delirium in susceptible people?
Anticholinergics
What are 3 important things to remember when assessing someone for delirium clinically?
- Baseline mental status
- Timeline of illness
- Current meds or recent changes
How many cases of delirium are a result of meds?
1/3
What labs would you order on someone with delirium?
Glucose
CBC and CMP
Check urine
MRI
True or false: Chemical restraints should be used at the lowest effective dose.
True
Which works better as a chemical restraint, antipsychotics or benzodiapzepines?
Antipsychotics
Acquired, chronic deterioration in cognitive abilities that impairs ADLs.
Dementia
What is the most common symptom in dementia?
Memory loss
Which type of dementia is memory impairment NOT the most common presenting feature? what is?
Frontotemporal dementia.
Disinhibition
What is the most common form of dementia?
Alzheimers
Memory served by which areas is affected in early AD?
hippocampus
Mesial temporal lobes
What are the two primary cardinal lesions associated with AD?
Neurofibrillary tangles (intracellular tau and ubiquitin proteins) and extracellular senile plaques (beta amyloid)
What is needed to diagnose Alzheimers?
Need to look at clinical criteria, lab tests, and imaging to exclude other diagnoses. Most are diagnosed clinically, but a definitive diagnosis requires histopathologic exam (autopsy)
What abnormal findings may you expect to see on PE of an advanced Alzheimer’s patient?
Myoclonus
Seizures
Incontinence
Frontal release signs
What is it called when the pt persistently blinks during the glabellar reflex test?
Myerson’s sign
What lab tests should be drawn on an AD patient?
TSH Vitamin B12 Folate RPR Biomarkers (tau protein, beta amyloid protein, ApoE4)
What imaging studies should be done on an AD patient?
MRI. Can help exclude other dx of vascular dz, NPH, neoplasm, and subdural hematoma. May show generalized atrophy, focal atrophy, or be normal.
What is the imaging study in which IV injection of fluorine is given to measure cerebral metabolic rates of glucose? Tests for hypometabolism
FDG PET
What is the imaging study in which Florbetapir F18 is injected to measure amyloid lesion burden in the brain?
Amyloid PET
When is an Amyloid PET scan indicated?
Progressive AD at an early age or for those who are following atypical course of AD