Alcoholic coma and some associated conditions.

The diagnosis of alcoholic coma is made only when there is a high blood alcohol level and signs of bilateral cortical dysfunction, without focal neurologic signs, and when all other metabolic and structural causes of coma have been ruled out. The ethanol-induced hypoglycemic coma of youth appears to result from the failure of gluconeogenesis to release glucose into the bloodstream. If the hypoglycemia is not immediately corrected, permanent and possibly lethal brain damage will result.