Transient unresponsiveness in the elderly. Report of five cases
I. C. Haimovic and H. R. Beresford
Department of Neurology, North Shore University Hospital-Cornell University Medical College, Manhasset, NY 11030.
Five hospitalized elderly patients had one or more self-limited episodes of
unresponsiveness that could not be explained by metabolic, structural,
convulsive, or psychiatric disorders. They accounted for approximately 2%
of cases referred to us for evaluation of coma. Despite some heterogeneity,
shared clinical features in these patients suggest an age-related disorder
of arousal that may be more common than is generally appreciated.
