Organic Disorders Flashcards
What is the definition of organic disorder?
Organic disorder = mental disorder due to common, demonstrable aetiology in cerebral disease, brain injury, or other insult leading to cerebral dysfunction
Are organic disorders acquired or congenital?
They are acquired, so different from intellectual disability
Classification of organic disorders?
- Primary
- Direct effect on the brain
- Secondary
- Systemic diseases that affect the brain in addition to other organ systems
Epidemiology - organic disorder
(age, onset)
- Onset
- Any age
- Adult or later life
Classification of organic disorder?
- Acute/subacute
- Delirium
- Organic mood disorder
- Organic psychotic disorder
- Chronic
- Dementia
- Amnesic syndrome
- Organic personality change
What are examples of organic disorders?
- Acute/subacute
- Delirium
- Organic mood disorder
- Organic psychotic disorder
- Chronic
- Dementia
- Amnesic syndrome
- Organic personality change
What are some common features of organic disorders?
- Cognitive
- Memory
- Intellect
- Learning
- Sensorium
- Consciousness
- Attention
- Mood
- Depression
- Elation
- Anxiety
- Psychotic
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
- Personality and behavioural disturbance
What can the following be broken down into:
- cognitive
- sensorium
- mood
- psychotic
- Cognitive
- Memory
- Intellect
- Learning
- Sensorium
- Consciousness
- Attention
- Mood
- Depression
- Elation
- Anxiety
- Psychotic
- Hallucinations
- Delusions
What is the general management for organic disorders?
- Correct diagnosis for correct management
- Medication usually not that useful except for acute situations
- MDT approach
- Management of environment
What is the prognosis for general disorders?
- Some irreversible and progressive
- Some transient/respond to treatment
Aetiology - delirium tremens
- Alcoholic withdrawal
Presentation - delirium tremens
- Fluctuating confusion
- Disorientation in time and place
- Memory impairment
- Psychotic phenomena
- Such as hallucinations, delusional thinking
Management - delirium tremens
- Benzodiazepines
What is Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome also called?
Wernicke’s encephalopathy
Aetiology - Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
- Thiamine deficiency
Presentation - Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
- Acute confusional state
- Ataxia
- Opthalmoplegia
- Nystagmus
Treatment - Wenicke-Korsakoff syndrome
- High potency parenteral B1 replacement
- 3-7 days
- All patients with Wernicke’s encephalopathy or at high risk should get parenteral thiamine, others undergoing detoxification or under invest4igation should get oral thiamine
- Avoid carbohydrate load until thiamine replacement completed
- Concurrent treatment for alcohol withdrawal
Prognosis - Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
- Untreated acute phase lasts about 2 weeks
- 84% develop Korsakoff psychosis with 15% mortality
- With treatment
- Confusional state and opthalmoplegia can resolve within days
- Nystagmus, neuropathy and ataxia may be prolonged or permanent
What is alcohol amnesic syndrome also called?
Korsokoff’s psychosis
Clinical features - alcohol amnesic syndrome
- Characterised by marked impairment of anterograde memory (ability to learn new information), disturbance of time sense
- No clouding of consciousness, absence of defect in immediate recall or global impairment
- Variable degrees of cognitive impairment
- Personality changes
- Apathy
- Loss of initiative
- Confabulation in early stage