Question:
A patient is a known alcoholic since the last 20 years. He suddenly develops restless tremors and agitation. The diagnosis is?
A patient is a known alcoholic since the last 20 years. He suddenly develops restless tremors and agitation. The diagnosis is?
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Sudden tremors and agitation in a chronic drinker means acute withdrawal.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Delirium tremens
- Psychosis
- Wernicke's encephalopathy
- Korsakoff's syndrome
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The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: A long-standing alcoholic who suddenly develops tremors, restlessness, and agitation is showing an acute alcohol withdrawal state. Sudden cessation or reduction of alcohol removes the chronic CNS depression and produces autonomic and motor overactivity.
Step 2: Delirium tremens is the severe end of alcohol withdrawal, marked by coarse tremors, agitation, confusion, autonomic hyperactivity, and often hallucinations, typically 48 to 72 hours after the last drink. This matches the picture, so it is the answer.
Step 3: The distractors do not fit. Wernicke's encephalopathy is a thiamine-deficiency triad of confusion, ophthalmoplegia, and ataxia, not acute tremulous agitation. Korsakoff's syndrome is a chronic amnestic disorder with confabulation. Generic psychosis lacks the withdrawal-driven tremor and autonomic surge described here.
Step 2: Delirium tremens is the severe end of alcohol withdrawal, marked by coarse tremors, agitation, confusion, autonomic hyperactivity, and often hallucinations, typically 48 to 72 hours after the last drink. This matches the picture, so it is the answer.
Step 3: The distractors do not fit. Wernicke's encephalopathy is a thiamine-deficiency triad of confusion, ophthalmoplegia, and ataxia, not acute tremulous agitation. Korsakoff's syndrome is a chronic amnestic disorder with confabulation. Generic psychosis lacks the withdrawal-driven tremor and autonomic surge described here.
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