Diagnosis of organic brain syndrome: An emergency department dilemma

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Delirium and dementia frequently pose a diagnostic dilemma for clinicians in the emergency department. The overlap of symptoms between organic brain syndrome and functional psychiatric illness, coupled with a dramatic presentation, often leads to a premature psychiatric diagnosis. In this paper, the authors discuss those symptoms of organic brain syndrome that most frequently generate diagnostic confusion in the emergency department and result in a misdiagnosis of functional illness.