TREATMENT OF DELIRIUM WITH PHOTOTHERAPY - A CASE-REPORT

A case is described where phototherapy rapidly restored sleep-wake dis turbances and concurrent symptoms of delirium in a patient who did not respond to conventional treatment with haloperidol. In this case, the delirious state may have been caused by a change in metabolism as a r esult of sepsis. Exposition of the patient to 8,000 Lux during 1.5 h f or 5 consecutive days was sufficient to suppress all delirious symptom s and to normalize sleep. This result may encourage the setup of syste matic studies towards the extent of desynchronization between various rhythmic cycles in delirium and towards the value of phototherapy for the restoration of normal circadian rhythmicity.