Cognitive performance of detoxified alcoholic Korsakoff syndrome patients remains stable over two years

Abstract

Excessive alcohol consumption is assumed to promote cognitive decline, eventually increasing the risk of dementia. However, little is known about the time course of cognitive functions in patients with chronic alcoholic Korsakoff syndrome (KS). Therefore, we assessed neuropsychological performance in 20 detoxified chronic KS inpatients at time 1 (T1) with a follow-up after two years (T2). The neuropsychological tests assessed verbal and visual short- and long-term memory, working memory, basic executive functions, language, general knowledge, and visual-spatial abilities. Surveys with caregivers and medical records provided information about current and previous disease-related parameters, drinking history, additional pathologies, as well as psychosocial and cognitive therapy within the two-year period. At both sessions, the majority of the KS patients' results were inferior to those of normal subjects. Comparing T1 and T2 revealed no significant decline in any of the investigated functions. Instead, general knowledge, visual long-term memory, and verbal fluency improved slightly after two years, though they still remained within pathological range. Comparing most improved and most deteriorated patients, better outcome occurred more frequently in men than women and was associated with higher premorbid education and fewer detoxifications in the past. In this sample of detoxified KS patients there was no indication of accelerated cognitive decline or onset of dementia-like symptoms over two years.

Salient cues improve prospective remembering in Korsakoff's syndrome

“…Furthermore, it should be noted that all patients of the present study were in the chronic phase of their illness and had been abstinent for 6 weeks at least, which is the time needed after detoxification for recovery of cognitive functions (Walvoort, Wester, & Egger, 2013). Importantly, previous research (Fujiwara, Brand, Borsutzky, Steingass, & Markowitsch, 2008) has shown that cognitive performance following sustained abstinence remained stable over 2 years. Therefore, the duration of time between assessments does not seem to present a major concern.…”

Alcohol, ageing and dementia: A Scottish perspective

“…People with ARBD do not necessarily continue to decline in the way that people with dementia do. Fujiwara, Brand, Borsutzky et al (2008) find stability in symptoms over a two year period of abstinence. This means that using the term dementia to describe these conditions is problematic.…”

Differences in cognitive abilities among young women alcohol users / Diferencias en habilidades cognitivas entre jóvenes universitarias consumidoras de alcohol

“…Algunos trabajos recientes incluso señalan que la mejora de estas funciones reduce el número de recaídas y el mejor cumplimiento del tratamiento (Fujiwara et al, 2008;Tapert et al, 2004).…”

“…Estas investigaciones se centran en la evaluación y el estudio de las funciones cognitivas asociadas a la corteza prefrontal, tareas de atención y memoria de trabajo (Cortes Tomas, Espejo Tort, & Gimenez Costa, 2008;Dante, 2007;Durazzo, Rothlind, Gazdzinski, & Meyerhoff, 2008;Easton, Sacco, Neavins, Wupperman, & George, 2008;Grenard et al, 2008;Labudda, Todorovski, Markowitsch, & Brand, 2008;Prat, Adan, Perez-Pamies, & SanchezTuret, 2008;Secades-Villa, García Fernández, García-Rodríguez, Álvarez Carriles, & Sánchez Hervás, 2008;Tapert, Ozyurt, Myers, & Brown, 2004;Verdejo-Garcia & Perez-Garcia, 2008;Verdejo-Garcia, Rivas-Perez, Lopez-Torrecillas, & Perez-Garcia, 2006;Verdejo-Garcia, Lopez-Torrecillas, Aguilar de Arcos, & Perez-Garcia, 2005). Algunos estudios han descrito, incluso, graves alteraciones por el consumo abusivo de alcohol, como es el caso de la demencia de Korsakoff (Fujiwara, Brand, Borsutzky, Steingass, & Markowitsch, 2008;Pitel et al, 2008).…”