The purpose of the study The goal is to investigate the correlation of tongue biting during convulsive seizures in patients with delirium tremens (DT) with the fundamental clinical indicators — the outcome of the disease and the duration of the period of mental disorders.

Of the 527 patients with DT, three groups were formed: individuals with DT with convulsive seizures and the presence of tongue biting (main group), patients with DT and seizures without biting the tongue, and patients with DT who did not have seizures (comparison groups). The main group of patients recruited by random selection. Comparison groups are formed in such a way that the average age of patients, as well as the psychopathological and somatic manifestations of DT assessed on the DRS rating scale, are comparable to those in the main group. In patients of all groups, attention was paid to the state of the skeletal muscular system. The ratio of urea : creatinine was determined.

In patients with DT, tongue biting during convulsive seizures correlates with a significantly shorter period of mental disorders and better survival (compared with patients without convulsive seizures and individuals with convulsive seizures without biting the tongue). For patients with DT with a bite of the tongue during convulsive seizures, a less common chronic alcoholic myopathy is characteristic. They found a signifi cantly lower value of the ratio of urea : creatinine.