[Pathomorphologic changes in the brain in alcoholic delirium]

Pathomorphologic examination of the brain in alcoholic delirium was carried out. Comparison was made between the changes in the brain of patients who died at the height of delirium and those of patients who died suddenly in the postdelirium state. The pathomorphologic picture of the brain in alcoholic delirium may be defined as chronic toxico-dyscirculatory encephalopathy aggravated by acute toxic and dyshemic changes. The latter were largely attributed to the delirium state per se. The characteristic features of the cases studied included considerable depletion of the cortical cells, chronic dystrophic changes in the neurons and gliocytes, and also chronic impairments of vascular wall permeability aggravated by marked acute pathologic phenomena in the microcirculatory vessels.