An unusual presentation of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia as delirium

Abstract

Delirium is a state of impairment in the level of consciousness, cognition, psychomotor activity, sleep-wake cycle and emotions. It is one of the most common neuropsychiatric complication in terminally ill cancer patients. People with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukaemia (CLL) are usually asymptomatic, and presenting to psychiatry outpatient as delirium is a rare scenario. Through our extensive literature search, delirium in CLL was noted only when hematopoietic stem cell transplant was initiated, although we did not get any data on CLL presenting as delirium. We are hereby describing the case of a 65 year old male who presented with delirium as the initial manifestation of CLL. He was started on chlorambucil and prednisolone with conservative management of delirium and was found to be doing well on follow up. This case illustrates the need for thorough evaluation and treatment of the underlying cause for delirium.

Keywords

• delirium
• chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
• cll