Primary alcoholic dementia and alcohol-related dementia

Clinicopathological issues regarding so-called ‘alcoholic dementia’ remain under debate. Although clinical observation favors the diagnosis of primary alcohol dementia, caused by direct alcohol neurotoxicity, further confirmation from neuropathological and biochemical perspectives is warranted. Repeat episodes of subclinical Wernicke–Korsakoff’s syndrome may partially account for the chronic state of primary alcoholic dementia, thus supporting the notion that primary alcoholic dementia exists in continuum with chronic and subclinical types of Wernicke–Korsakoff’s syndrome. Diagnostic criteria for alcohol related dementia, as detailed by Oslin et al., represent a purer form of alcoholic dementia and are useful for the scientific discussion of this condition.