Rivastigmine for the Treatment of Delirium - A Review.

Delirium is a common disorder in hospitalised elderly patients. It is a complex neuropsychiatric syndrome with disturbance of consciousness, attention, cognition and perception. Treatment is based on identification and correction of the underlying cause together with symptomatic treatment. Decreased cholinergic activity is often considered to be one of the essential features in the pathophysiology of delirium. Therefore, correction of this cholinergic deficiency appears to be a promising approach. In this article we describe the pathophysiology of delirium, the pharmacological properties of rivastigmine and the use of rivastigmine in the prevention and symptomatic treatment of delirium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]