Relative kindling effect of readmissions in alcoholics.

To determine if there is an increase in the risk of seizure activity when patients experience recurrent alcohol detoxification, the histories of 360 alcoholics who had at least two admissions for alcohol detoxification, between November 1987 and August 1992, were reviewed retrospectively. All subjects were treated with tapering doses of chlordiazepoxide as required, to control symptoms/signs of alcohol withdrawal. Subjects with a seizure history were prophylactically treated with tapering doses of chlordiazepoxide. No seizures were observed during detoxification in any of these subjects. In this group of readmitted subjects, there was no correlation between self-reported duration of alcohol consumption or average daily intake of alcohol. A significant correlation was observed between seizure history and number of detoxification admissions and neurological admissions, but not for other medical/surgical admissions, nor for admissions for rehabilitation. At the time of initial admission, laboratory parameters did not distinguish those subjects with seizures from those without. At the time of readmission, mean corpuscular volume and gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, both markers of alcohol consumption, were higher in the group with seizures.