Estudio de la reversibilidad de las alteraciones del sistema nervioso en alcohólicos crónicos abstinentes mediante potenciales evocados.

A one year follow-up study was performed on 50 abstinent chronic alcoholic patients. Three different kinds of evoked potentials were used: Short and Long Latency Auditory Evoked Potentials (BAEPs and LAEPs) and Visual Evoked Potentials (VEPs). Our aim was to evaluate the possible reversibility of the abnormalities that are provoked by the chronic alcohol intake in the nervous system. After one month of abstinence the patients show some abnormalities in several EPs parameters. After one year, LAPEs P3 latency and N1-P2 amplitude and BAEPs peak V latency become normals. During this first year, a partial improvement of these functional abnormalities has been observed, and the degree of improvement depends on the neural system explored.