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Treatment of delirium with phototherapy: a case report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

HA Droogleever Fortuyn  and
JH Schoemaker
HA Droogleever Fortuyn
Affiliation:
University Hospital Nijmegen, Department of Psychiatry, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen
JH Schoemaker
Affiliation:
Medical Writing and Scientific Consultancy, Goirle, The Netherlands
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Summary

A case is described where phototherapy rapidly restored sleep-wake disturbances and concurrent symptoms of delirium in a patient who did not respond to conventional treatment with haloperidol. In this case, the delirious state may have been caused by a change in metabolism as a result of sepsis. Exposition of the patient to 8,000 Lux during 1.5 h for 5 consecutive days was sufficient to suppress all delirious symptoms and to normalize sleep. This result may encourage the setup of systematic studies towards the extent of desynchronization between various rhythmic cycles in delirium and towards the value of phototherapy for the restoration of normal circadian rhythmicity.

Keywords

deliriumphototherapybiological rhythmsdementiasundowning
Type
Case reports
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 12 , Issue 7 , 1997 , pp. 367 - 368
Copyright
Copyright © Elsevier, Paris 1997

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References

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