Fundamentals of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry: Neuropsychiatry

Many patients admitted to a general hospital may have one or more coexisting psychiatric conditions that require attention to facilitate their recovery. When called to assess and recommend treatment, the psychiatry consultant may discover they are dealing with a disorder that, although at first was thought to be psychiatric, is very likely the manifestation or consequence of a condition that has psychiatric and neurologic components. More important, the presenting signs and symptoms may require a comprehensive and learned neurological evaluation. The editors of Fundamentals of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry:: Neuropsychiatry have encountered perplexing cases at the interface of psychiatry and neurology and finding the resources to help guide and inform their assessments was not easy. Fundamentals of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry:: Neuropsychiatry was born as a response to these challenges; as a contribution to all psychiatric consultants who seek to improve their neurological assessment skills, and those who want to better understand the conditions, nuances, and complexities defined by neuropsychiatry. This book will be a useful addition to any CL psychiatrists library; it will be equally helpful for Consultation Liaison Psychiatry fellows, Psychiatry residents, general Psychiatrists who are interested in CL Psychiatry or who perform psychiatric consultations from time to time, medical students on their CL Psychiatry clerkships, and psychiatric nurse practitioners. This book comprises eight chapters written by recognized experts in psychiatry, psychology, neurology, and anesthesiology. The first chapter, Neurocognitive and Neurological Examination, provides an especially detailed discussion and explanation of this topic in a highly readable and accessible format. An entire chapter, Neurological Conditions, provides state-of-the-art discourse about common neurological conditions including cerebrovascular diseases, epilepsy and related disorders (including nonepileptic seizures), movement disorders, and data about less common but equally important conditions such as lupus cerebritis, multiple sclerosis, and prion diseases. The chapter, Catatonia, Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome, and Serotonin Syndrome, skillfully addresses these conditions from the CL consultants perspective:: as syndromes with motor manifestations that have potentially life-threatening consequences, and discusses their epidemiology, risk factors, clinical presentation, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. Another chapter, Electroconvulsive Therapy and Other Related Therapies, discusses the use and potential life-saving benefits of ECT for critically ill medical patients. The book contains more than 30 tables. Each chapter includes five multiple choice study questions with annotated answers. As a stand-alone reference, this book will fill the gap in many CL consultants libraries where a neuropsychiatry text targeting non-neurologists should reside. When paired with its sister text, Fundamentals of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry:: Principles and Practice, these two volumes will empower readers to more precisely and comprehensively assess and treat medical or surgical patients suffering with one or more psychiatric conditions that may be adversely affecting their health and recovery.