神經精神科로 依賴된 譜妄患者에 對한 臨床的 考察

Delirious Patients Referred to Neuropsychiatric Department

The clinical observation was made on 27 Cases of delirium who had been referred to the department of Neuropsychiatry from other services at the National Medical Center for the priod of a year, starting from February 1,1980, Some significant findings are as follows： 1. Of the 225 referred patients, the cases of delirium constituted 12% of them (27 cases). 2. Male cases outnumbered the female, by the ratio of five to two; however, there was no significant difference in age distribution. 3. The causative factors were identified as follows ： withdrawal from alcohol in seven cases (25. 996), infections six (2296), intoxications five (18.5%), Post operative delirium was found in only three caes(ll. 196). In addition, 10 cases (37.0%) showed that there were more than one causative factor involved. 4. Of the various clinical pictures, frequently seen symptoms were; disorientation in 25 cases (92.696), disturbance of thinking 22 (81. 5%), and memory disturbance 21 (77.896) in its descending order. 5. EEG abnormalities were found in 14 cases; includings are eight cases of bilateral diffuce slowing and two of focal slowing. 6. Problematic Premorbid personality were observed in nine cases： five of depressive characte rs, two of dependent, and the other two were paranoid. 7. The average duration of delirious state was seven to eight days, with the majority of the cases (16 cases or 59.3%) for less than one week. 8. Regarding to the prognosis, 17 cases (63.096) recovered fully, but three cases eventually resulted in dementia, and the rest of three have expired. To sum up, though post, operative delirium is seen very rarely, we feel the acute need of comprehensive study on the subject including the early diagnosis and the appropriate treatment in the general hospital settings.