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EZIO GIACOBINI, M.D.; SANDER IZIKOWITZ, M.D.; ALFRED WEGMANN, M.D.

Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1960;3(3):289-296.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Patients suffering from ethyl alcohol or drug addiction often display acute clinical syndromes after excessive use of alcohol or drugs even when these agents have disappeared from the blood. These syndromes include a wide spectrum of neurovegetative symptoms, the most frequent being tremor, hyperhidrosis, variations in blood pressure, pulse rate, body temperature and pupillary diameter.

The excretion of epinephrine and norepinephrine has been shown to be increased by the action of alcohol in dogs by Klingman and Goodall¹ and in man by Perman² and Abelin, Herren and Berli.³ It seemed of interest to investigate further the urinary excretion of these substances for possible alterations during the acute clinical syndromes following alcohol and drug abuse when alcohol or drug are no longer detectable in the blood.

Alterations in the urinary excretion of catecholamines have been reported in mental patients by Bergsman,⁴ Elmadjian, Hope . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
Stockholm, Sweden

From the Beckomberga Hospital (Head, Prof. S. Izikowitz) and the Department of Physiology, Karolinska Institutet (Head, Prof. U. S. von Euler).

Senior Psychiatrist, Beckomberga Hospital (Dr. Giacobini); Professor and Medical Director and Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Beckomberga Hospital (Dr. Izikowitz); Research Fellow, Department of Physiology, Karolinska Institutet (Dr. Wegmann).

Footnotes
Submitted for publication Oct. 23, 1959.

Syndrome B is the most frequent acute state following an intense or long-lasting period of alcoholic abuse. It is characterized by anxiety, tremor, vasomotor reactions, hyperhidrosis, sleep disturbances and anorexia but without disorientation or hallucinations. Syndrome C is characterized by all the symptoms of Syndrome B together with hallucinations of different types. No disorientation. Delirium tremens is characterized by pronounced symptoms of Syndrome B together with hallucinations and disorientation. The degrees of severity are represented in progressive order from I-III.

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