[Neurological aspects of opium addiction].

An in-depth neurological study covered 110 patients with opium addiction without any known history of head traumas, neuroinfections, other diseases of the central nervous system, and alcoholism. Neurological changes were observed in all cases. They developed in the first months of the use of narcotic agents, were more pronounced when home-made narcotic preparations and mixtures were employed, and were of a stable nature. The duration of the disease was correlated with the severity of neurological disorders. The main neurological syndromes characteristic of the period of chronic intoxication and the abstinence syndrome were identified.