Pattern of muscle and nerve pathology in alcoholism.
One hundred and ninety-one inpatients undergoing detoxification from alcoholism were studied electrodiagnostically. Of them, 115 (57%) exhibited muscle pathology; only 11 (5%) showed no electrodiagnostic evidence of pathology. A common occurrence in the more severely toxic patients was a phenomenon called "burst suppression," which revealed an inability of the patient to sustain a normal consistent firing of motor units upon muscle contration; the significance of this phenomenon is not thoroughly understood. Electrodiagnosis is a helpful tool in the diagnosis, prognosis, treatment, and follow-up of patients with alcoholism.
D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications*; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009132:Muscles / Q000187:drug effects*; D009135:Muscular Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D009431:Neural Conduction / Q000187:drug effects; D010525:Peripheral Nerves / Q000187:drug effects*; D010523:Peripheral Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome