Alcoholism and cerebral atrophy: a study of 50 patients with CT scan and psychologic testing.

A study of 50 alcoholic patients was carried out with CT scans of their brains and psychologic testing. These patients were alcohol and drug free, and without neurologic or psychiatric disorders at the time of the examinations. Fifty-eight percent of the patients had cerebral atrophy. There was no correlation between the results of the psychologic testing and cerebral atrophy. The only factor that correlated to a significant degree with cerebral atrophy was the duration of problem drinking. Only the mean duration of problem drinking was statistically significantly longer in the patients with cerebral atrophy compared to those patients with normal CT scans. Implications of this finding of high prevalence of cerebral atrophy in alcoholics is discussed.