title: Neuroimaging of chronic alcohol misuse.
abstract: Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused substances worldwide. It results in a wide range of diseases and disorders affecting many organ systems. Alcohol-related nutritional deficiencies and electrolyte disturbance leave chronic abusers at risk of a range of demyelinating conditions to which the radiologist and clinician should always be alert. These include Wernicke's encephalopathy, Korsakoff's syndrome, Marchiafava-Bignami disease and osmotic demyelination. Cerebral volume loss is also a commonly encountered neuroimaging phenomenon in chronic alcohol abusers. Neuroimaging with CT and MR, with a focus on FLAIR and diffusion-weighted MR sequences, play an important role in the diagnosis and often monitoring of these conditions. We present an educational review of these entities in terms of their clinical features, neuropathology and imaging features along with a case example of each condition.
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology and Neurointerventional Service, Department of Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Ireland.
authors.forename: Caitriona
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2014-8745
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Logan
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology and Neurointerventional Service, Department of Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Ireland.|Faculty of Health, School of Medicine, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Hamed
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Asadi
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology and Neurointerventional Service, Department of Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Ireland.
authors.forename: Hong Kuan
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kok
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology and Neurointerventional Service, Department of Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Ireland.
authors.forename: Seamus T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Looby
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology and Neurointerventional Service, Department of Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Ireland.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology and Neurointerventional Service, Department of Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Ireland.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: O'Hare
authors.affiliation: Neuroradiology and Neurointerventional Service, Department of Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont, Ireland.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thornton
mesh_terms: D019973:Alcohol-Related Disorders / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D059906:Neuroimaging / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Korsakoff's; Marchiafava-Bignami; Wernicke's; alcohol abuse; osmotic demyelination