TY - JOUR
T1 - Deciphering delirium through semantics
T2 - a selective synopsis
AU - Bugiani, Orso
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Fondazione Società Italiana di Neurologia.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - During the course of the more than 2000 years of its recorded history, delirium has been given a very large number of different names, including phrenitis and paraphrenitis, mania and délire maniaque, (febrile, agitated, asthenic, lethargic, reversible toxic, symptomatic, exogenous) psychosis, inattention, acute and reversible dementia and insanity, amentia and sensorial phrenosis, reversible cognitive dysfunction, paralepsia, confusion and mental confusion, disorientation, dysergasia, and incoherence. Such a wide range of names with related definitions and pathogenic hypotheses not only bears witness to the interest that delirium has aroused in clinical investigators, but also reflects the difficulties in scientifically investigating its intrinsic nature. Furthermore, these difficulties have raised doubts about making a diagnosis that may explain why its incidence is reported to be under-estimated.
AB - During the course of the more than 2000 years of its recorded history, delirium has been given a very large number of different names, including phrenitis and paraphrenitis, mania and délire maniaque, (febrile, agitated, asthenic, lethargic, reversible toxic, symptomatic, exogenous) psychosis, inattention, acute and reversible dementia and insanity, amentia and sensorial phrenosis, reversible cognitive dysfunction, paralepsia, confusion and mental confusion, disorientation, dysergasia, and incoherence. Such a wide range of names with related definitions and pathogenic hypotheses not only bears witness to the interest that delirium has aroused in clinical investigators, but also reflects the difficulties in scientifically investigating its intrinsic nature. Furthermore, these difficulties have raised doubts about making a diagnosis that may explain why its incidence is reported to be under-estimated.
KW - Ageing
KW - Delirium
KW - Encephalopathy
KW - Semantics
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U2 - 10.1007/s10072-020-04438-x
DO - 10.1007/s10072-020-04438-x
M3 - Article
C2 - 32333183
AN - SCOPUS:85084139979
JO - Neurological Sciences
JF - Neurological Sciences
SN - 1590-1874
ER -