[Reversible hypokalemia and hypomagnesemia during alcohol withdrawal syndrome].

The alcohol-withdrawal syndrome was examined in 76 persons suffering from chronic alcohol dependency. Twenty persons showed only slight withdrawal symptoms. Thirty-two showed pronounced predelirium. Twenty-four patients developed delirium tremens. Commencing on the day on which alcohol was last consumed, potassium and magnesium levels in the blood serum were measured for 8 days until the 7th day after withdrawal from alcohol. The more pronounced the alcohol withdrawal syndrome, the sharper the decline in the level of potassium and magnesium in the blood serum. In each case, the decline in the magnesium serum level preceded that of the potassium serum level by one day. On the basis of the clinically and experimentally observed repercussions of the magnesium level (delirium symptoms, including grand mal), the magnesium blood level decline is attributed greater significance than that of the potassium blood level decline. The repercussions on magnesium and potassium blood levels resulting from the accompanying catecholamine release and of hyperventilation during delirium are discussed.