Neurologic referrals to a psychiatric consultation-liaison service. A study of 199 patients

The findings in a 199 neurology patients referred to a psychiatric consultation-liaison service are analyzed. Neurology referrals differ from general hospital referrals in reasons for referral and in patterns of diagnosis. The most common conversion symptoms seen are pain and pseudoseizures. The psychiatric diagnosis made in those patients with functional pain varies with the site of the pain. These two conversion symptoms, pain and pseudoseizures, have differing ages of onset and prognoses. A number of patients were given no psychiatric diagnosis and the reasons for this are discussed. The incidence of various neurologic diagnoses made in those patients referred to the consultation-liaison service is compared with the incidence of those diagnoses made in consecutive admissions to the neurology ward.