title: [Psychogenic pathology in the neurology unit. A review of the hospital admissions over the last 10 years in a third-level service].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychogenic disorders are frequently seen in neurological practice and sometimes make it necessary to hospitalise the patient in order to rule out a potentially severe organic pathology.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the profile of patients with a discharge diagnosis of psychogenic disorder that are admitted to the neurology unit of a Spanish hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  The neurology unit discharge abstracts from the last 10 years were reviewed and the patients who were diagnosed with 'non-organicity' were selected; a total of 28 demographic, epidemiological and clinical variables were also collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 64 patients (1% of those admitted to hospital), with a mean age of 40 years, had a diagnosis of psychogenicity. The proportion between sexes was one to one and the mean length of stay in hospital was 10 days. Mixed symptoms were the most usual (50%), followed by isolated motor symptoms (22%). Most cases consisted of possible neurological diagnoses of ischaemic stroke and demyelinating disease. Only 25% of cases consulted psychiatry during hospitalisation. In 11% of cases there was a later history of suicide attempts and in eight cases (12.5%) an ambulatory diagnosis of organicity was reached thanks to the developmental follow-up ('error' in the provisional diagnosis on discharge).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study traces, for the first time in our setting, the profile of the psychogenic patient who is admitted to the neurology unit and examines their hospital management and their outpatient follow-up. We highlight the need not to underestimate this pathological condition and to generate an ordered way of managing it, which should always be multidisciplinary with the leading roles played by the neurologist and the psychiatrist.
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Neurología, Hospital Clinico Universitario Virgen de la Victoria, Málaga, España. carlosdelacruzcosme@gmail.com
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de la Cruz-Cosme
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barbieri
authors.forename: Elma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Avanesi-Molina
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Romero-Acebal
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006757:Hospital Units; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D009462:Neurology; D011570:Psychiatry; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D055815:Young Adult