What you need to know about: delirium in older adults in hospital

Delirium is a clinical syndrome characterised by a disturbance of perception, consciousness and/or cognitive function, with an acute onset, fluctuating course and a severe deterioration arising over hours or days. Delirium is usually triggered by a combination of influences including acute illness, surgery, drugs and environmental factors. It is commonly seen in older people presenting to hospital, but can also develop during hospitalisation. There are three types of delirium: hypoactive, hyperactive and mixed. All patients over 65 years old presenting to hospital should be screened for delirium using the ‘4AT’ tool. An alternate method for diagnosing hospital-acquired delirium is described. This article outlines a 10-stage method for diagnosing, managing and preventing delirium, with emphasis on which areas of the history and examination should be prioritised, what the salient investigations are and both non-pharmacological and pharmacological approaches to preventing and treating delirium. Finally, this article explores which patients require specialist referrals or investigations and how to best follow up patients with delirium.

Clinical and pathogenetic aspects of acute pancreatic encephalopathy

Pancreatic encephalopathy is a formidable complication of acute pancreatitis, significantly aggravating the course and increasing the mortality rate in this disease. For pancreatic encephalopathy, an acute onset and fluctuating course with subsequent cyclic progression are typical, and the severity of neurological symptoms may be directly dependent on the activity of the pancreatic process. The risk of having residual symptoms, primarily in the form of cognitive impairment, increases with repeated episodes of acute pancreatic encephalopathy. In the pathogenesis of pancreatic encephalopathy, an important role is played by a combination of enzymatic and hormonal dysfunction of the pancreas, systemic microcirculation disorders due to hypovolemia, typical for acute pancreatitis, and changes in glucose metabolism associated with the effects of secondary hepatocellular insufficiency and pancreonecrosis. Microscopically, gross changes in the vascular link are revealed in the form of plasmorrhages and diapedesic hemorrhages in the Virchow-Robin spaces and the white matter of the brain, desquamation and dystrophy of endothelial cells, swelling of the adventitia membrane, sludge of blood corpuscles, plasma impregnation and segmental necrosis of the vascular wall with predominant involvement and small caliber. The presence of pancreatic encephalopathy should be suspected if neurological symptoms are detected in patients with symptoms of acute pancreatitis, such as psychomotor agitation, visual and auditory hallucinations, delirium, followed by episodes of deafness, adynamia, drowsiness, up to a state of catatonia and coma. In most cases, psychomotor agitation is combined with manifestations of the syndrome of irritation of the meninges. Focal neurological symptoms, myoclonia, hyperkinesis may be associated with mental and general cerebral symptoms. Mortality in acute pancreatic encephalopathy is due to shock, hemorrhagic complications, ketoacidosis, fatty embolism of cerebral vessels or renal failure (bibliography: 35 refs)

Encephalopathy With Alternating Hemispheric MRI Abnormalities

A 21-year-old woman with a long-standing history of migraine sought care at her local provider for a 1-week history of confusion and mixing up her words. She then had a witnessed seizure, with dyscognitive features and secondary generalization. On hospitalization, electroencephalography demonstrated left temporal theta slowing and sharp waves. Magnetic resonance imaging showed patchy T2-signal abnormality, nonenhancing, in the left temporal region (only a report was available). Thyroid peroxidase antibodies were increased at 271 IU/mL. A diagnosis of an autoimmune encephalopathy was made, and the patient was treated with phenytoin, levetiracetam, and high-dose corticosteroids, followed by a slow oral prednisone taper. The patient improved cognitively but had considerable emotional lability and an increase in headache frequency and severity and, thus, sought a second opinion. Blood was drawn for genetic testing. The patient died in her sleep a short time later, most likely in the context of sudden unexplained death in epilepsy. Her genetic testing results became available 1 month later, which showed findings consistent with MELAS syndrome: heteroplasmic sequence variation m.3243A>G (tRNA Leu) and homoplasmic rare variant m.2294A>G (16S rRNA). Encephalopathy or encephalitis of subacute onset with fluctuating course is not unique to autoimmune encephalitis. Common acquired metabolic disorders must be considered and excluded in all cases, such as deficiencies of vitamin B12 and folate, hypothyroidism, sepsis, and central nervous system–active medications.

518 - AUTOIMMUNE DEMENTIA – WHEN TO SUSPECT?

Background:Autoimune dementias are underrecognized clinical entities, frequently misdiagnosed as neurodegenerative or prion disorders. However, the prognosis is vastly different since immunotherapy can treat these conditions and restore functionality.Research objective:To reflect on autoimmune dementias, briefly presenting the autoimmune syndromes, how to diagnose them and some clinical cues to be attentive of.Methods:Literature search on Pubmed and Google Scholar.Results:The incidence and prevalence of autoimmune dementias are unknown, but autoimmune and inflammatory causes account for 20% of dementia in patients younger than 45 years of age.Autoimmune dementias are classified according to syndromic presentation, specific serologic markers, or histopathologic findings.Patients with autoimmune dementias usually present with an acute or subacute disorder of memory, thinking, or behaviour. Clinical clues that can help clinicians identify autoimmune dementias include six of the following: (i) rapidly progressive or fluctuating course; (ii) multifocal and diverse clinical presentations; (iii) personal or family history of autoimmunity; (iv) detection of inflammatory markers in the cerebrospinal fluid; (v) presence of a neural-specific autoantibody and (vi) favourable response to a trial of immunotherapy. Also, unsuspected cancer, new or recurrent, may manifest neurologically as autoimmune dementia.In evaluating patients with dementia and autoimmune disease, clinicians should be aware of the possible coexistence of these disorders.Conclusions:Recognition of clinical and serologic clues to autoimmune dementia allows early and sustained treatment. Misdiagnosis of a potentially reversible condition as a progressive neurodegenerative disorder can have devastating consequences for the patient and family.

Maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality in COVID-19 positive obstetrics patients in tertiary care centre

Background: COVID-19 disease had been declared as a public health crisis by WHO by the end of 2019. The effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection on pregnancy including symptoms, disease severity, risk of vertical transmission and perinatal and neonatal outcome have been the subject of research. Preliminary studies showed a fluctuating course of the disease ranging from asymptomatic or mild symptoms to even maternal death. However, recent evidences suggest that effect of COVID-19 infection during pregnancy may not lead to adverse maternal and neonatal outcome.Methods: In this cross sectional prospective observational study, we analysed 60 pregnant women infected with SARS- CoV-2 and their neonatal outcome, who tested positive for COVID-19 at district hospital, and were referred to Muzaffarnagar Medical College, were enrolled in this study.Results: The majority 96.7% (58) of these women were asymptomatic with cough being the most common symptom which was present in 3.3% (2) of the women. 24(75%) women developed pneumonitis radiologically, but they were asymptomatic, so intensive care was not required. Along with 76.08% (35) perinatal/neonatal outcomes were observed normal.Conclusions: In this study we observed that most of the women with COVID-19 were asymptomatic or with mild symptoms. Even though they were asymptomatic, most of the patients showed pneumonitis changes radiologically but still they didn’t require any intensive care, had good recovery postpartum and were discharged under satisfactory condition. The neonatal outcome was highly favourable.

Aggressive infantile myofibromatosis with intestinal involvement

Background Infantile myofibromatosis (IM) is the most common cause of multiple fibrous tumors in infancy. Multicentric disease can be associated with life-threatening visceral lesions. Germline gain-of-function mutations in PDGFRB have been identified as the most common molecular defect in familial IM. Case presentation We here describe an infant with PDGFRB-driven IM with multiple tumors at different sites, including intestinal polyposis with hematochezia, necessitating temporary chemotherapy. Conclusions PDGFRB-driven IM is clinically challenging due to its fluctuating course and multiple organ involvement in the first years of life. Early molecular genetic analysis is necessary to consider tyrosine kinase inhibitor treatment in case of aggressive visceral lesions.

Recurrent bilateral chorioretinitis with positive Lyme serology: a case report

Background It has been disputed whether Lyme is a true causative agent in posterior uveitis or an incidental finding. Case presentation This report presents a case of a 33-year-old Caucasian female with a remote history of Lyme disease who presented with blurry vision in the right eye. Exam and imaging revealed a right active chorioretinitis and positive Lyme serology. The patient was systemically treated with prednisone and antibiotics. Symptoms initially improved, but she later developed a localized choriocapillaritis in the left eye. Steroids and antibiotics were restarted many times with fluctuating course of the disease. The patient was then started on chronic steroid-sparing immunosuppression, which has controlled the condition without recurrence. Conclusions The current report presents a unique case of recurrent bilateral chorioretinitis with positive Lyme serology and raises the question of the existence of true Lyme-associated uveitis.

Acute symptoms of mild to moderate COVID-19 are highly heterogeneous across individuals and over time

Background The symptoms of COVID-19 appear to be heterogenous, and the typical course of these symptoms is unknown. Our objectives were to characterize the common trajectories of COVID-19 symptoms and assess how symptom course predicts other symptom changes as well as clinical deterioration. Methods 162 participants with acute COVID-19 responded to surveys up to 31 times for up to 17 days. Several statistical methods were used to characterize the temporal dynamics of these symptoms. Because nine participants showed clinical deterioration, we explored whether these participants showed any differences in symptom profiles. Results Trajectories varied greatly between individuals, with many having persistently severe symptoms or developing new symptoms several days after being diagnosed. A typical trajectory was for a symptom to improve at a decremental rate, with most symptoms still persisting to some degree at the end of the reporting period. The pattern of symptoms over time suggested a fluctuating course for many patients. Participants who showed clinical deterioration were more likely to present with higher reports of severity of cough and diarrhea. Conclusion The course of symptoms during the initial weeks of COVID-19 is highly heterogeneous and is neither predictable nor easily characterized using typical survey methods. This has implications for clinical care and early-treatment clinical trials. Additional research is needed to determine whether the decelerating improvement pattern seen in our data is related to the phenomenon of patients reporting long-term symptoms, and whether higher symptoms of diarrhea in early illness presages deterioration.

Use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer patients with pre-existing sarcoidosis

Aim: To evaluate adverse events in cancer patients with pre-existing sarcoidosis receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). Patients & methods: We retrospectively reviewed cancer patients with sarcoidosis who underwent treatment with ICI to determine frequency of sarcoidosis flares. Results: 32 patients with sarcoidosis received ICIs The median time to ICI initiation was 7 years (range: 1 month to 51 years). One patient (3%) with a 20-year remote history of sarcoidosis developed a clinically symptomatic exacerbation after three doses of atezolizumab, with hilar lymphadenopathy, subcutaneous nodules, arthritis and uveitis. Atezolizumab was discontinued and prednisone initiated. She had a fluctuating course with two additional flares. Conclusion: Frequency of flares in patients with a remote history of sarcoidosis who receive ICIs is low.