Les Rencontres de Biarritz 2007 - THS 10

COGNITIVE IMPAIRMENT CHANGE IN ALCOHOL-DEPENDENT SUBJECTS
AT 3-MONTHS POST-DETOXIFICATION. BORDEAUX, FRANCE, 2006.
RÉSUMÉ / ABSTRACT
REVIRIEGO E
AURIACOMBE S
FLEURY B
FATSÉAS M
AURIACOMBE M
Alcohol-dependent subjects may have cognitive impairment related to frontal lobe dysfunction.
We hypothesized improvement after abstinence. Objective: To assess at 3-months postdetoxification
the evolution of executive, attentional and memory functions among alcoholdependent
patients.
Method: Subjects were included from patients admitted consecutively for inpatient alcohol
detoxification from February to April 2006. They were assessed at intake and 3 months later.
Patients with severe psychiatric disorder, HIV or HCV positive serology, past head injury, substance
use other than alcohol, tobacco and sedatives were excluded. In the absence of acute
withdrawal symptoms, they were administered a battery of common neuropsychological tests.
Substance use and other confounding factors were controlled using the Addiction Severity
Index and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview.
Results: 6 males were included. At 3 months, 4 were still abstinent and 2 had relapsed but not
to their prior level. Regardless of baseline performance, all subjects improved in all tests but
abstinent subjects had a greater improvement. For relapsed subjects, main improvement was
found for psychomotor speed. Abstinent subjects had better inhibition and higher improvement
of both visual-motor integration and strategic episodic retrieval processing. Severity of dependence,
length of alcohol use, use of other substances, both psychiatric and somatic co-morbidities
did not seem to be associated with performance of any test in this small sample.
Conclusion: Alcohol seemed to be the main factor implied in the evolution of cognitive functions.
Consideration needs to be given to routine incorporation of cognitive testing in alcohol
dependence. Findings from these preliminary results are encouraging, but have to be confirmed.
MOTS CLÉS / KEYWORDS
Non communiqué...
E. Reviriego, S. Auriacombe, B. Fleury, M. Fatséas, M. Auriacombe
Addiction Psychiatry, JE2358, INSERM IFR 99, University Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France.
Cognitive neurology, Neurology Department, Bordeaux University Hospital, Bordeaux, France.
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