title: Reversible brain shrinkage in abstinent alcoholics, measured by MRI.
abstract: Magnetic resonance imaging of the intracranial CSF volume was compared before and after 5 weeks of confirmed abstinence in 9 alcohol-dependent patients. All patients showed a highly significant reduction in CSF volume in accordance with reexpansion of the brain after alcohol abstinence. T2 values for white matter, estimated by linear regression from 16 echoes of a CPGM sequence, however, showed no significant increase such as occurs in rehydration. This indicates, that alcohol-induced reversible brain atrophy cannot be attributed to fluctuation of free water in the brain only.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroradiology, University of Tübingen, Federal Republic of Germany.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schroth
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Naegele
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Klose
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petersen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid*; D001284:Atrophy; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002552:Cerebral Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D013695:Temperance