Cognitive Dysfunction, MRI Findings and Manganese Levels in Alcoholics

Alcoholic patients have been known to have brain atro-phy and cognitive dysfunction. However,recent studies have reported bilateral signal hyperintensities of the globus pallidus on T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in liver failure, findings that are typically associated with manganese intoxication. The present study compared brain atrophy on T1-weighted MRI, signal intensity ratios of the globus pallidus on T1-weighted MRI, whole blood manga-nese levels, and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) IQ parameters between alcoholics with and with-out liver cirrhosis, to investigate cognitive dysfunction, MRI findings and manganese levels in alcoholics. Pallidal hyperintensity was visually identified in 80 % of alcoholic patients with liver cirrhosis. In addition, a sig-nificant correlation was seen between pallidal signal inten