Symptoms & Signs
Delirium involves a quick change between mental states (for example, from lethargy to agitation and back to lethargy).
Symptoms include:
- Changes in alertness (usually more alert in the morning, less alert at night)
- Changes in feeling (sensation) and perception
- Changes in level of consciousness or awareness
- Changes in movement (for example, may be inactive or slow moving)
- Changes in sleep patterns, drowsiness
- Confusion (disorientation) about time or place
- Decrease in short-term memory and recall
- Unable to remember events since delirium began (anterograde amnesia)
- Unable to remember past events (retrograde amnesia)
- Disrupted or wandering attention
- Inability to think or behave with purpose
- Problems concentrating
- Disorganized thinking
- Speech that doesn’t make sense (incoherent)
- Inability to stop speech patterns or behaviors
- Emotional or personality changes
- Anger
- Anxiety
- Apathy
- Depression
- Euphoria
- Irritability
- Movements triggered by changes in the nervous system (psychomotor restlessness)
Diagnosis & Tests
The following tests may have abnormal results:
- An exam of the nervous system (neurologic examination)
- Psychologic studies
- Tests of feeling (sensation), thinking (cognitive function), and motor function
The following tests may also be done:
- Ammonia levels
- B12 level
- Blood chemistry (chem-20)
- Blood gas analysis
- Chest x-ray
- Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis
- CPK
- Drug, alcohol levels (toxicology screen)
- Electroencephalogram (EEG)
- Glucose test
- Head CT scan
- Head MRI scan
- Liver function tests
- Mental status test
- Serum calcium
- Serum electrolytes
- Serum magnesium
- Thyroid function tests
- Thyroid stimulating hormone level
- Urinalysis
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Delirium : Overview, Causes, & Risk Factors
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Delirium : Symptoms & Signs, Diagnosis & Tests
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Delirium : Treatment
Review Date : 2/13/2008
Reviewed By : Luc Jasmin, MD, PhD, Departments of Anatomy & Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, CA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc.
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