1/317. Lessons to be learned: a case study approach diuretic therapy and a laxative causing electrolyte and water imbalance, loss of attention, a fall and subsequent fractures of the tibia and fibula in an elderly lady. The case is described of a hitherto well, alert and intelligent lady of 85 years of age, who commenced medication with diuretics--prescribed for mild congestive cardiac failure; she developed constipation consequent upon the diuresis and dehydration thereby provoked. As a result she began to take, unknown to her general practitioner, regular and increasing amounts of laxatives. At about this time she was noted by her son to become "rapidly senile"--with the result that she fell on account of losing her normally good concentration and attention; she sustained fractures of the right tibia and fibula. Shortly after admission to hospital she was premedicated, anaesthetised and operated upon, following which there was a postoperative regimen comprising several litres of low sodium isotonic infusions, all given intravenously. She was found at this point to be severely hyponatraemic with a low serum osmolality, but following the institution of water restriction rapidly improved as her serum sodium rose again; there was an accompanying massive diuresis as the previously retained water was voided. Concomitant with the serum sodium rise her mental concentration and attention regained their former levels. The biochemical and cellular mechanisms underlying this patient's symptoms are discussed. ( info) |
2/317. bismuth encephalopathy. bismuth encephalopathy, characterized by the constant association of acute confusion, myoclonus, severe ataxia and dysarthia has reached "epidemic" proportion since its first description in 1974. The clinical aspects the pathogenic hypothesis, the diagnostic criteria as well as the report of a typical case are described by the authors, who stress the similarities with encephalopathies induced by other metals. ( info) |
3/317. Angel trumpet lily poisoning in five adolescents: clinical findings and management. OBJECTIVE: To describe clinical features and management of Angel trumpet lily poisoning in adolescents. METHODOLOGY: Case notes of five adolescent males who presented to the emergency department of a teaching hospital were reviewed. RESULTS: All five boys ingested a mixture of coca-cola and a brew prepared by boiling the leaves and flowers of the plant. They presented to the emergency department with various degrees of agitation and confusion and specific clinical signs. All were treated with charcoal and cathartics and discharged after 36 h. CONCLUSIONS: Due to its hallucinogenic effects, abuse of Angel trumpet lily is not uncommon and should be suspected in adolescents presenting with altered mental state and hallucinations in conjunction with other anticholinergic symptoms and signs. ( info) |
4/317. 'Climbing the walls' ICU psychosis: myth or reality? The extent of the effect of the ICU environment on the psychological functioning on the ICU patient is explored. There is a need to understand all potential causes of disruption in psychological functioning in ICU patients. Co-ordination of all care carried out by multi-disciplinary team can help re-orientate patients and re-establish normal routines. ( info) |
| The intensive care unit syndrome (ICU syndrome) is defined as an altered emotional state occurring in a highly stressful environment, which may manifest itself in various forms such as delirium, confusion, crazy dreams or unreal experiences. The purpose of this part of a study of patients' experiences is to describe and illuminate patients' experiences of acute confusion, disorientation, wakefulness, dreams and nightmares during and after their stay in the ICU. The data were obtained from 19 ventilated patients, who were interviewed twice and had stayed at least 36 hours in the ICU, the first interview being about one week after discharge from the ICU, and the second 4-8 weeks later. The hermeneutic approach used when interpreting and analysing the text from the interviews revealed that patients' experiences of unreal experiences were often associated with intense fear. Intense or continuous unbearable fear seems to result in frightening unreal experiences, which further increase the level of fear. Care actions or caring relationships with relatives or nurses can reduce this fear, which can help to prevent the occurrence and/or duration and intensity of the unreal experiences. trust and confidence in nurses or significant others and feelings of self-control or trust in self-control seemed to reduce the risk of unreal experiences so that adverse stimuli might only trigger a mild confusion. ( info) |
| In recent years, endoscopic third ventriculostomy has become a well-established procedure for the treatment of various forms of noncommunicating hydrocephalus. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy is considered to be an easy and safe procedure. Complications have rarely been reported in the literature. The authors present a case in which the patient suffered a fatal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) after endoscopic third ventriculostomy. This 63-year-old man presented with confusion and drowsiness and was admitted in to the hospital in poor general condition. Computerized tomography scanning revealed an obstructive hydrocephalus caused by a tumor located in the cerebellopontine angle. An endoscopic third ventriculostomy was performed with the aid of a Fogarty balloon catheter. Some hours postoperatively, the patient became comatose. Computerized tomography scanning revealed a severe perimesencephalic-peripontine SAH and progressive hydrocephalus. Despite emergency external ventricular drainage, the patient died a few hours later. Although endoscopic third ventriculostomy is considered to be a simple and safe procedure, one should be aware that severe and sometimes fatal complications may occur. To avoid vascular injury, perforation of the floor of the third ventricle should be performed in the midline, halfway between the infundibular recess and the mammillary bodies, just behind the dorsum sellae. ( info) |
7/317. Idiopathic pinealitis. Case report. This 63-year-old man presented with complaints of "having a feeling of falling backward" over a 3-month period. Results of his general physical examination, laboratory studies, and neurological examination were unremarkable. A magnetic resonance image revealed a 1.8 x 1.4 x 1.2-cm enhancing mass in the posterior third ventricle just above the corpora quadrigemina. The pineal gland was found to be diffusely enlarged at operation and separable from the posterior thalamus and was totally resected. The patient had an uneventful postoperative course but continues to be somewhat confused. The lesion consisted of a remarkable chronic inflammatory cell infiltrate permeating the pineal lobules and was composed of T and B lymphocytes, macrophages, eosinophils, and mast cells. Immunoperoxidase studies did not demonstrate langerhans cells, and a search for microorganisms was unrevealing. There was no evidence of neoplasia; results of immunostaining for germ cell markers and other tumor-associated antigens were negative. ( info) |
8/317. Quetiapine as an alternative to clozapine in the treatment of dopamimetic psychosis in patients with Parkinson's disease. There are many difficulties associated with the late stages of Parkinson's disease (PD), but psychosis and agitation may be the most disturbing for both patients and care givers, and often precipitate the pivotal decision for long-term nursing home placement. While the addition of antipsychotic drugs or the withdrawal of antiparkinsonian drugs may improve the behavioral problem, these strategies usually worsen the motor difficulties. clozapine has been studied in PD for over a decade, and while it appears to be effective, there are safety and tolerability concerns associated with it. In addition, in new jersey, medicaid no longer pays for the home blood draws that are required for home-bound patients. This led to a situation in which we had patients who needed to stop clozapine and begin an alternative therapy. Because quetiapine seems particularly well suited to patients with PD based on in vitro and in vivo studies we have begun to try this medication in PD patients who need to stop clozapine. This article reports three case histories of patients with PD, confusion and dopamimetic psychosis who had been previously managed with clozapine and who were successfully switched to quetiapine. At doses from 12.5 to 150 mg/day quetiapine was well tolerated, resulting in behavioral improvement and no real increase in parkinsonism. These case histories raise the possibility that quetiapine may represent a viable alternative to clozapine in PD patients with dopamimetic psychosis and behavioral disturbances. ( info) |
9/317. Acute mental status changes and hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis with long-term topiramate therapy. Mental status changes and metabolic acidosis may occur with topiramate therapy. These adverse events were reported during dosage titration and with high dosages of the drug. A 20-year-old man receiving topiramate, valproic acid, and phenytoin experienced acute-onset mental status changes with hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. He had been receiving a modest dose of topiramate for 9 months. He was weaned off topiramate over 5 days, and his mental status returned to baseline within 48 hours of discontinuing the agent. This case illustrates the need for close evaluation of patients who experience acute-onset mental status changes during topiramate therapy. ( info) |
10/317. Constructing Alzheimer's: narratives of lost identities, confusion and loneliness in old age. This paper is a qualitative study based on retrospective, unstructured, qualitative interviews with Mrs. Jones and other African-American, Chinese-American, Irish-American and Latino family caregivers in the boston area. A narrative approach is used to show how family caregivers draw on their cultural and personal resources to create stories about the nature and meaning of illness and to ask how ethnic identity may influence the kinds of stories family caregivers tell. Three different story types are identified and described, each with a distinctive configuration of illness meanings and overarching theme, or storyline: a subset of African-American, Irish-American, and Chinese-American caregivers told us stories about Alzheimer's as a disease that erodes the core identity of a loved one and deteriorates their minds; a subset of Chinese caregivers narrated stories that emphasized how families managed confusion and disabilities, changes ultimately construed as an expected part of growing old; a subset of Puerto Rican and Dominican families, while using the biomedical label of Alzheimer's disease or dementia, placed the elder's illness in stories about tragic losses, loneliness, and family responsibility. To construct their stories, caregivers drew upon both biomedical explanations and other cultural meanings of behavioral and cognitive changes in old age. Their stories challenge us to move beyond the sharp contrast between ethnic minority and non-ethnic minority views of dementia-related changes, to local clinics and hospitals as sites where biomedical knowledge is interpreted, communicated, discussed, and adapted to the perspectives and lived realities of families. ( info) |