That some patients with delirium tremens have convulsions during the course of their illness has long been known. For the most part, however, the seizures have been labeled "whisky fits," and there are few references to them in the literature. Cobb and Lennox,1 in the chapter on epilepsy in "Oxford Medicine," remarked: "Alcohol poisoning may have epileptic seizures as a symptom," and stated that "when a relationship [of seizures to alcohol] exists, the seizure usually comes during the sobering-up process." Since in recent years much new light has been shed on the whole problem of convulsive disorders with the aid of electroencephalography and since no systematic analysis of convulsions associated with delirium tremens can be found, we thought that such a study might be timely.
ANALYSIS OF CASES
Three hundred and five cases of delirium tremens, representing 384 separate admissions to the psychiatric pavilion of the Cincinnati General Hospital