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Neuroimaging Findings of Delirium

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Delirium

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Abstract

Neuroimaging is increasingly being used as a tool to gain a greater understanding of the pathogenesis of delirium. While initial neuroimaging investigations of delirium centered on qualitative analysis of brain computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) lesions, voxel-based morphometry studies were the first to show specific gray and white matter structural correlates related to delirium. More recently, diffusion tensor imaging has offered insights into alterations in white matter pathways that may underlie delirium. Cerebral blood flow measurements using Xenon CT and MRI techniques have shown both regional and global decreases during delirium compared to baseline. Resting-state functional MRI has also been used to identify changes in functional cortical connectivity. Most recently, positron emission tomography (PET) MRI has given clues to pathologic protein alterations in delirium. Given the constraints of neuroimaging, research must proceed in a focused, hypothesis-driven manner.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, USA

    Robert Sanders & Paul Rowley

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  1. Robert Sanders
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  2. Paul Rowley
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Correspondence to Robert Sanders .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center and the Division of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Christopher G. Hughes

  2. Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship Center and the Division of Anesthesiology Critical Care Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA

    Pratik P. Pandharipande

  3. Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship (CIBS), Center Department of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and the Tennessee Valley Veteran’s Affairs, Geriatric Research Education Clinical Center (GRECC), Nashville, TN, USA

    E. Wesley Ely

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Sanders, R., Rowley, P. (2020). Neuroimaging Findings of Delirium. In: Hughes, C., Pandharipande, P., Ely, E. (eds) Delirium. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25751-4_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-25751-4_9

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-25750-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-25751-4

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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