Case Lab · Type B · Boundary

F05

New confusion, old diagnosis

Margaret, 84, has a known diagnosis of dementia, stable for the past two years with a gradual, slow decline. Over the past three days, following a urinary tract infection, her care home staff report she has become markedly more confused than her usual baseline, with clear fluctuation between calm, orientated periods in the morning and agitated, disoriented periods by evening — a pattern staff say is new and different from her usual stable presentation.