Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION
Volume 15, Issue 5, Pages 355-360Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC
DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2013.12.079
Keywords
Delirium; Alzheimer's disease; ultrasound; assessment of cognitive disorders/dementia; geriatric assessment
Categories
Funding
- Julia Lowy Foundation
- NSW Branch of the Australian
- New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine
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Objective: Delirium superimposed on dementia (DSD) is frequently not diagnosed, at great cost. Both delirium and dementia are associated with cerebral hypoperfusion. A switch to anaerobic glycolysis in the central nervous system during delirium compared to Alzheimer's dementia (AD) suggests greater hypoperfusion in DSD. The main aims of this study were to investigate whether cerebral hypoperfusion could differentiate DSD from related entities, and the characteristics of that hypoperfusion. Methods: Prospective cohort study of 44 Geriatric Medicine patients in 4 groups: (1) delirium, no history of dementia; (2) DSD; (3) acute illness without delirium or dementia; and (4) AD, no delirium. We measured CBF using transcranial Doppler to assess flow velocity (FV) and pulsatility index in the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Results: DSD has lower FV than either AD or delirium alone, or acute illness (28.2 +/- 4.7 vs AD: 41.3 +/- 15.7; P =.040; vs delirium 37.7 +/- 8.2; P =.009; vs acute illness 43.0 +/- 8.3; P <.001). A mean MCA FV cut-off of 32.25 cm/s diagnoses DSD with a sensitivity of 0.875 and specificity of 0.788, area under the curve 0.884; P.001. Resolution of delirium improves FV (P =.005). FV correlates with delirium severity (delirium index R = -0.39; P =.009) and dementia (Mini-Mental State Examination, R = 0.33; P =.029, and Informant Questionnaire on Cognitive Decline in the Elderly, R = 0.41; P =.005). Conclusions: Transcranial Doppler is a potential diagnostic and monitoring test for DSD. Correlation with clinical indicators of delirium suggests pathophysiological significance. Crown Copyright (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of American Medical Directors Association, Inc. All rights reserved.
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