Brain stem auditory evoked responses in chronic alcoholics.

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neurology
• Audiology

Background:

• Alcoholism is associated with neurological deficits.
• Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a severe neurological complication of chronic alcoholism.
• Brain stem auditory evoked responses (BAERs) assess the integrity of the auditory pathway and brain stem function.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate auditory pathway function in alcoholic patients with and without Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome using BAERs.
• To identify specific BAER abnormalities associated with WKS and cerebellar ataxia in alcoholics.
• To evaluate the effect of thiamine treatment and alcohol abstinence on BAERs.

Main Methods:

• BAERs were performed on 25 alcoholic patients with WKS, 56 alcoholic patients without WKS (24 with cerebellar ataxia), and 37 healthy controls.
• Analysis focused on the incidence of abnormal BAERs and the duration of specific intervals (I-III, I-V).

Main Results:

• Abnormal BAERs were observed in 48% of WKS patients and 25% of alcoholic patients with cerebellar ataxia.
• Prolonged I-V intervals were noted in all patient groups; prolonged I-III intervals were significantly more frequent in the WKS group (32%) compared to non-WKS alcoholics (6%).
• BAER abnormalities improved after thiamine treatment and alcohol abstinence.

Conclusions:

• BAERs can detect subclinical auditory pathway dysfunction in alcoholic patients.
• A prolonged I-III interval in alcoholic individuals is a potential indicator of Wernicke's encephalopathy.
• Thiamine treatment and abstinence can lead to recovery of auditory pathway function.