Table of Contents

ABSTRACT

Delirium is not a disease but a syndrome with multiple causes that result in a similar structure of symptoms and signs. It is defined as a transient, sometimes due to reversible cause, in other cases due to irreversible condition leading to cerebral impairment or dying and death and manifesting clinically by a wide range of neurologic-psychiatric abnormalities. Precipitating factors for delirium include use of narcotics, severe acute illness, urinary tract infection, hyponatremia, shock, anaemia, postoperative pain, sepsis, pneumonia, substance intoxication or sudden abstinence of hard drugs (alcohol, heroin, cannabis, LSD), medications (anticholinergic drugs, sedative hypnotics, histamine receptor type 2 blockers (cimetidine), cortic-osteroids, centrally acting antihypertensive agents (methyl-dopa, reserpine), antiparkinson drugs (levodopa) ), and abrupt withdrawal of some drugs (eg. opioids, or benzod-iazepines).

We analysed two patients’ (n=2) clinical picture and power spectral analysis (pEEG) features in typical delirium manifesting series of Intensive Care Unit. Every patient was continually observed by the nurse as the sitter managing a specific medicate and medicare. Time-domain recordings of the EEG will deliver an enormous amount of data and require additional trained personnel for continuous EEG signal analysis. In order to decrease the amount of data, computer-processed EEG analysis such as pEEG has been employed for a more practical approach in ICU. EEG signal analysis – pEEG shows specific measures relating to the basic brain morphologic mechanism leading to a specific encephalopathy rising either out from the comatose stage or to the lethal end.

Keywords: delirium, Consciousness, Power spectral analysis (pEEG), Brain morphological mechanism, Corticoids