Journal of the Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry最新文献

Background: Delirium is a common symptom following a traumatic brain injury that is often overlooked by healthcare professionals. Early detection of posttraumatic delirium is crucial to improving patient outcomes and quality of life. The 4 As Test (4AT: alertness, attention, abbreviated mental test-4, and acute mental changes) is a brief and rapid tool for delirium assessment with acceptable reliability and validity. However, the 4AT has not yet been translated for use in the Taiwanese population.

Objective: To translate the 4AT into Traditional Chinese (TC-4AT), assess its reliability and validity, and explore the clinical effects of delirium in patients with a traumatic brain injury.

Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted at the neurosurgery wards of 2 Taiwanese hospitals. Patients who were aged 20 years or older, were diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, and had a Glasgow Coma Scale score between 13 and 15 were included. Interrater reliability was assessed, and validity was verified using criterion-related comparisons with the Short Confusion Assessment Method. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria were employed to assess the sensitivity and specificity of the TC-4AT for screening posttraumatic brain injury delirium.

Results: A total of 100 patients with an average age of 67 years were enrolled, of whom 10% were diagnosed with delirium based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition criteria. The interrater reliability of the TC-4AT was 1.00. Patients with delirium tended to have a longer hospital stay than those without delirium (13 days vs. 7 days) although the difference was nonsignificant (P = 0.28). In terms of criterion validity, patients diagnosed with delirium using the Short Confusion Assessment Method had a significantly higher score on the TC-4AT than those not diagnosed with delirium (P < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic curve indicated that the optimal cutoff point was 4, with sensitivity, specificity, and area under the characteristic curve of 0.90, 0.94, and 0.96, respectively.

Conclusion: The TC-4AT is an accurate tool for delirium assessment that aids early detection and in informed decision-making in preventive care.

Background: Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a rare yet potentially fatal iatrogenic syndrome that can manifest with life-threatening symptoms. Theorized to be caused by the dopamine-blocking effects of certain medications, such as antipsychotics, or the withdrawal of dopaminergic agents, NMS is characterized by hyperthermia, autonomic instability, altered mental status, and muscular rigidity. Most treated cases resolve within weeks; however, in some cases, residual catatonic symptoms can persist for months after the resolution of acute hyperthermic and hypermetabolic symptoms. The utilization of dopaminergic agents, such as bromocriptine, to alleviate the catatonic symptoms of NMS has been described in the literature but has not been explored systematically.

Objective: The objective of this study is to present a case where high-dose bromocriptine was used to successfully treat significant, residual catatonia following NMS and to further delineate the role of bromocriptine in the management of residual catatonia secondary to NMS through a systematic review.

Methods and results: This study presents an illustrative case report and a systematic review of bromocriptine use in managing residual NMS catatonia. The databases of PubMed, Cochrane, PsycINFO, EBSCO, and OVID Medline were queried, identifying 338 studies. Utilizing COVIDENCE, 137 duplicate articles and 76 irrelevant studies were excluded. Ultimately, 125 studies were assessed for eligibility, yielding 7 manuscripts and 9 total cases of bromocriptine use in residual NMS catatonia. Including our case, bromocriptine use led to an improvement in catatonic symptoms in 80.0% of patients (8 out of 10) and resolved catatonic symptoms in 50.0% of patients (5 out of 10).

Conclusions: Based on this case and the accompanying systematic review, bromocriptine may serve as an effective treatment for residual catatonia following NMS, particularly when first-line strategies such as benzodiazepine and/or electroconvulsive therapy treatment have failed or are infeasible. This highlighted efficacy of bromocriptine may be attributed to relieving persistent dopaminergic blockade in susceptible patients, necessitating further research into the etiological heterogeneity of catatonia.