진전섬망에 대한 임상적 연구

Clinical Characteristics of Delirium Tremens

Summary The authors studied the basic demographic data, the history of drinking, and clinical characteristics of 103 delirium tremens patients who had been treated both as out-patients and in-patients at the departments of neuropsychiatry, Keimyung University Medical School and Hospital and Kyungpook University Hospital, and in a private psychiatric clinic in Taegu from January, 1965 to December, 1980， and results were summarized as follows： 1. Almost all patients belonged to an age bracket of 30 to 60 years of age and the average was 43.6 years. Two were females and all the remainder were males. 2. Considering their educational level and occupational status, they were mostly from the lower socio-economic class. 3. Almost all patients had little problem in marital life superficially, and only about 6% of the patients had problematic marriage^ resulting in divorce and separation. 4. Most of them had drunk Korean hard liquor (So-Joo) and Korean traditional rice-wine (Magguli ) which are among the cheapest alcoholic beverages in Korea. 5. Delirium tremens occurred most frequently in chronic alcoholics with 1 to 5 years of excessive drinking, and some cases, however, occurred in alcoholics with less than 1 year of excessive drinking. 6. Delirium appeared first within 1 to 7 days of complete abstinence in almost all patients, but in some patients it appeared after a reduction of alcoholic intake. 7. Complications and associated diseases were liver disease- (26.2% ), neuro-muscular disorders- (19.4%), sleep disorders- (19. A% ), lung disease- (12.6%), convulsions-(11.7%), and physical trauma-(10.1%) in that order. 8. Hallucination, agitation, and tremor occurred respectively in approximately 80%, Tachycardia, profuse sweating, elevation in blood pressure, delusion, and fever occurred in 50% or more. 9. More than half (57.5%) of the patients recorvered from delirium tremens in 4 to 9 days.