Michael Reznik, MD, Department of Critical Care Medicine & Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Prevalence of clinical electroencephalography findings in stroke patients with delirium

Contributed by Noa Mintz, ScB, Brown University, Providence, RI and Michael Reznik, MD, Department of Critical Care Medicine & Neurology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA Background Patients with acute stroke are at a high risk for delirium, which may occur in up to half of cases depending on the type of stroke.1–4 However, post-stroke delirium […]

Kyra O'Brien MD and Mark Neuman MD MSc, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Anesthesia Choice for Cognitively Impaired Patients Undergoing Hip Fracture Surgery

Contributed by Kyra O’Brien MD and Mark Neuman MD MSc, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Background The impact of general anesthesia on postoperative outcomes in patients with cognitive impairment is often debated. Some have posited that general anesthesia may have neurotoxic effects and therefore increase the risk of postoperative delirium and […]

Stacie Deiner MS MD

Comparison of the frailty index and frailty phenotype and their associations with postoperative delirium incidence and severity

Stacie Deiner MS MD, LeRoy Garth Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Department of Anesthesiology, Dartmouth University Medical School, Hanover, NH Studies show that preoperative frailty is associated with up to six times the odds of postoperative delirium, depending on which frailty measurement tool is used.1,2 There are two distinct paradigms of frailty measurement, Frailty […]

Phillipe E. Vlisides, MD

Perioperative Neurocognitive Disorders and Putative Biomarkers

Contributed by Phillipe E. Vlisides, MD, Department of Anesthesiology, University of Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, MI Background Perioperative neurocognitive disorders represent a major public health issue, particularly among aging surgical populations. In fact, the American Society of Anesthesiologists has launched a Brain Health Initiative with the aim of protecting and preserving brain health in older […]

Fienke L. Ditzel, MD; Arjen J. C. Slooter MD, PhD; Suzanne C.A. Hut, PhD

The Delirium Interview: a new reference standard for large studies evaluating delirium assessment tools

Contributed by Fienke L. Ditzel, MD; Arjen J. C. Slooter MD, PhD; and Suzanne C.A. Hut, PhD, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rationale The gold standard for diagnosing delirium is the classification by a delirium expert based on the DSM-5(TR) criteria.1,2 When validating a new delirium assessment tool, ideally, a panel […]

Nadia Lunardi, MD, PhD

Sleep Fragmentation, EEG Slowing and Circadian Disarray in a Mouse Model for Intensive Care Unit Delirium

Contributed by Nadia Lunardi, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Virginia and Michal Jedrusiak, M.D., Visiting Graduate Student, Anesthesiology Department, University of Virginia Introduction In 2020, our research group introduced a novel mouse model designed to investigate postoperative delirium.1 This model aimed to emulate the combination of surgical stress, anesthetic […]

Dr Tamara Fong

Expanding delirium prevention during COVID-19 with the Modified and Expanded Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP-ME)

Contributed by Tamara G. Fong, MD PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, MA USA; Jason Albaum, Vassar College, USA; and Sharon K. Inouye, MD MPH, Milton and Shirley F. Levy Family Chair and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, […]

Oluwaseun Johnson-Akeju, MD

Postoperative Delirium and Long-Term Subjective Cognitive Decline After Cardiac Surgery

Contributed by Oluwaseun Johnson-Akeju, MD, Anesthetist-in-Chief at Massachusetts General Hospital and Henry Isaiah Dorr Associate Professor of Research and Teaching in Anaesthetics and Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School, and Ariel Mueller, MA, Administrative Director for Research in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital on behalf of the Minimizing […]

Gen Shinozaki, MD

Can Delirium Assessment with Bispectral EEG (BSEEG) Help Predict Patient Outcome(s)?

Contributed by Gen Shinozaki, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Stanford University School of Medicine, Palo Alto, CA The Shinozaki Lab at Stanford University, previously at the University of Iowa, has been working to develop a novel portable EEG device to help detect delirium in hopes it will improve patient outcome(s). This bispectral […]

UB-CAM QR code for downloading iPhone app

Update on the Ultra-Brief Confusion Assessment Method (UB-CAM)

Contributed by Edward R. Marcantonio MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School and Donna M. Fick, RN, PhD, Director of the Center of Geriatric Nursing Excellence, Penn State In 2020, we wrote a NIDUS blog introducing the Ultra-Brief Confusion Assessment Method (UB-CAM) 1, an ultra-brief, adaptive tool for assessing […]