Mental Status Changes
 
Introduction
Acute Confusion
   Infectious
   Metabolic
Cases
   Headache
   Fever & Confusion
   Focal Weakness
   Nice Doggie
   She's Talking a Lot
   Hemiparesis
   Unconscious
   Police Call
 

The following day, Joseph's condition is unchanged.

  • His condition fluctuates.
  • The one consistent feature is he never speaks.
  • The lab reports all blood samples were lost.
  • LP results come back:
    • No WBCs
    • Normal glucose
    • Protein up slightly
  • The family refuses to pay the 5000 KSh ($70 US) for the cranial CT.

On the third hospital day his condition continues to wax and wane.

  • He still has not spoken.
  • The blood samples are redrawn.
  • A careful retinal exam now reveals a lesion in the right eye.
  • The cost of the CT is waived until discharge.
Photo courtesy of Nideck, Inc.

On the fifth hospital day, the CT is finally done.
 
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