Alcohol Related Seizures in Chronic Alcoholics

Park, Ji Young; Kim, Sucjoo; Kim, Byung Kun; Koo, Ja Seong; Kwon, Ohyun; Park, Jong Moo; Lee, JungJu

Abstract

PURPOSE
Alcohol related seizures (ARS) are common problems in community. We reviewed the clinical characteristics of ARS in chronic alcoholics and evaluated the predictors of delirium tremens and recurrence of seizures.
METHODS
We thoroughly reviewed all medical records of patients with alcohol related seizures at admission and some outpatient records for follow-up data. For the patients who had been lost during follow-up, telephone interviews were performed. We described the clinical characteristics of ARS during admission and analyzed the correlation between initial findings of ARS.
RESULTS
Forty eight patients with ARS were admitted and followup data were available in 33 patients by out-patient records or telephone interviews. Forty-four patients were male and the mean age was 47.4+/-10.4 years old. Nine out of 33 patients became completely abstinent after discharge. Ten out of 24 current drinkers developed recurrent seizures and 20 out of 48 patients developed delirium tremens (DT) during admission. The number of seizures and age ofpatients were significantly related with DT. Patients with much weekly- consumption of alcohol were prone to develop recurrent seizures.
CONCLUSIONS
These results suggest that careful attention should be paid to the patients with older age and multiple seizures at each event about the development of DT and to the patients with much weekly-consumption of alcohol about the recurrence of seizures during follow-up.