Visual evoked responses in chronic alcoholics.
Visual evoked responses (VERs) were recorded on 52 chronic alcoholics patients without Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, 22 of whom had cerebellar ataxia, and eight chronic alcoholics with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Abnormal VERs were found in 23% of patients without and 37% of patients with Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. The main VER abnormalities of all the alcoholic groups were prolonged latency and reduced amplitude of the P100 component. Improvement followed a six month period of abstinence. VERs may be useful in the early detection of alcohol induced brain damage, and in following the progress of patients with the condition.
D000328:Adult; D000425:Alcohol Amnestic Disorder / Q000503:physiopathology; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001921:Brain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002526:Cerebellar Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014899:Wernicke Encephalopathy / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*