Some Unusual Neurologic Diseases Complicating Chronic Alcoholism

A NUMBER of neurologic disorders occur in people addicted to the excessive intake of alcohol in addition to the relatively common and well recognized Wernicke-Korsakoff syn-droirme and alcoholic polyneuropathy. It is not possible to state the incidence of these complications with any accuracy; in general, they tend to be much less frequent than either of the two just mentioned. Much confusion has existed concerning the identification and classification of these diseases, which have usually been grouped together under the vague term ‘ ‘ alcoholic encephalopathies.’ In recent years, however, it has been pos-sible to isolate at least some of these disorders and to designate fairly precisely their clinical and pathologic features. Among these, corti-cal cerebellar degeneration, deficiency amblyo-pia, I\iarchiafava-Bignami’s disease and central pontme myelinolysis are most readily defined; cerebral cortical atrophy may also be included, although this disorder is much less well de-lineated than the others. Although all of these differ from one another in many respects, both clinically and pathologically, there are certain features common to all. First, these complications usually occur only after serious, steady drinking of at least several years ’ duration. Second, nutritional depletion is commonly present for months or even years before the onset of the illness. Third, al-though pure forms of these diseases are en-countered, there is a decided tendency fo