Age and ageing
-
Case Reports
Non-convulsive status epilepticus in elderly individuals: report of four representative cases.
the purpose of this article is to describe the clinical and electroencephalographic features of four elderly patients diagnosed as having non-convulsive status epilepticus. ⋯ the identification of non-convulsive status epilepticus may be particularly arduous in elderly subjects and, therefore, a high level of suspicion is essential to obtain an early diagnosis. An urgent electroencephalogram is considered as the method of choice in the diagnostic evaluation of non-convulsive status epilepticus. Finally, non-convulsive status epilepticus should be included among the causes of coma in older individuals.
-
Editorial Comment
Need we do so badly in managing delirium in elderly patients?
-
over 60% of older people have at least one admission to hospital in their last year of life, with the majority of people having multiple admissions. In Bankstown, New South Wales, Australia, we have a diverse ethnic and cultural population. We were interested in bed utilisation, documentation, and follow through of "care plans" as well as "not for resuscitation" orders in the last year of life of the older people in our area. ⋯ this study showed that in our diverse population there were multiple admissions and utilisation of hospital beds for older people in their last year of life. Care plans and not for resuscitation orders were rarely documented prior to last admission. However, when advanced care plans were done, they were usually well documented and followed through appropriately.