[Critical approach to emergency care in consultation psychiatry]

36 patients consecutively admitted in medical and surgical wards of Reims' University Hospital, and referred to the Psychiatric Emergency Unit, were assessed for their psychiatric morbidity (DMS-III-R, axis I) and their psychiatric dangerousness. Approximately one third of the patients didn't suffer from any mental disorder and belonged to the area of psychological medicine. One third showed reactional disorders, were dangerous and were then admitted in a psychiatric department. The risks of the development of liaison psychiatry are discussed by authors--for example, the hardly admitted concept of psychiatric emergency is in danger of losing value.