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Utility of EEG in Delirium: Past Views and Current Practice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2005

Richard P. Brenner
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Abstract

The EEG is a useful and, at times, an essential test in the evaluation of delirium. In most patients with delirium, the EEG will show diffuse slowing and thus is helpful in differentiating organic etiologies from functional, psychiatric disorders. The degree of the EEG changes correlates with the severity of the encephalopathy so that the EEG may be used to help monitor therapy. In some delirious patients, the EEG may indicate whether the patient is suffering from focal, rather than global, impairment. Furthermore, the EEG is the only test that can identify an ongoing epileptic state (e.g., nonconvulsive status epilepticus) as being responsible for the clinical picture of confusion. Other electrophysiological tests that may prove helpful in the evaluation of delirium, such as computerized EEG spectral analysis, topographic brain mapping, and sleep studies, are briefly reviewed.

Type
Diagnostic Criteria and Assessment Instruments
Copyright
© 1991 Springer Publishing Company

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