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Could we predict an episode of delirium tremens? Case report

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

A. Tounsi ,
Z. Bencharfa ,
F. Azraf ,
M. Sabir  and
F. Elomari
A. Tounsi*
Affiliation:
psychiatry
Z. Bencharfa
Affiliation:
psychiatry
F. Azraf
Affiliation:
psychiatry
M. Sabir
Affiliation:
addiction, Arrazi university psychiatric hospital, salé, Morocco
F. Elomari
Affiliation:
addiction, Arrazi university psychiatric hospital, salé, Morocco
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Delirium tremens is one of the most serious complications associated with alcohol withdrawal. It affects a percentage of 5 to 20% of users and is not related to the duration of consumption nor to the quantities taken. An early diagnosis will facilitate a quick treatment without putting at risk the vital prognosis.

Objectives

Our objective is to identify the different indicators mentioned in the existing literature and to compare these to the clinical and paraclinical data of our patients

Methods

We present through clinical vignettes, the cases of two patients hospitalized in our department of addictology for a cure of alcohol withdrawal and who presented an episode of delirium tremens.

Results

everal clinical and paraclinical parameters have been linked to statistically significant differences in the published reports related to this subject. Thrombocytopenia remains the common element between the different publications and was the case in our two patients.

Clinically, the presence of a previous episode of delirium or seizure during withdrawal , as well as tachycardia (>100 bpm) and low number of quit attempts were significantly related to the occurrence of delirium tremens. The majority of the predictors identified were paraclinical and included: hyponatremia, hypokalemia, elevated ALT and homocyctein levels, low pyridoxine levels, and the presence of structural brain damage.

Conclusions

the literature on predictors of delirium tremens remains poor. more studies are needed to confirm the data already mentioned

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 66 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2023 , pp. S656 - S657
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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