Abstract: Objective To investigate the characteristics of delirium after cerebral infarction in elderly demented patients.Methods40 elderly demented patients with delirium after cerebral infarction were assessed with delirium score scale(DSS),mini-mental state examination (MMSE) during delirium and after delirium disappeared respectively.ResultsThe prominent symptoms from DSS as delirium were disturbance in sleep-awake cycle,speed of onset of behavior change,incoherent thought process,abnormalities of orientation,and misinterpretation of surroundings.The disturbance of sleep-awake cycle and speed of onset of behavior change recovered dramatically as delirium disappeared,however,the abnormalities of orientation and misinterpretation of surroundings mildly improved.The items with lower scores from MMSE as delirium were abilities of attention and calculation,abilities of recall,time disorientation,and three step language orders.The function of language from the items of MMSE improved very well as delirium disappeared,especially the three step language orders,however,the abilities of recall,abilities of attention and calculation,time disorientation mildly improved.ConclusionDetermination of the clinical features of delirium following dementia is helpful to distinguish the delirium from dementia.

Key words: elder, dementia, cerebral infarction, delirium