Question:medium
All are true about delirium tremens except?
All are true about delirium tremens except?
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Eye-movement palsy in an alcoholic points to Wernicke, not to DT.
Updated On: Jun 24, 2026
- Visual hallucinations
- Coarse tremors
- Third nerve palsy
- Confusion
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The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
Delirium tremens is the life-threatening end of the alcohol withdrawal spectrum, appearing two to four days after cessation in a dependent drinker. To answer the except question we recall its core clinical picture and then find the item that does not fit.
The hallmark features are a fluctuating, clouded sensorium with disorientation and confusion, vivid visual hallucinations often described as small crawling creatures, coarse generalised tremors, severe autonomic storm with fever, sweating and tachycardia, and psychomotor agitation. Three of the listed choices, confusion, coarse tremors, and visual hallucinations, sit squarely within this picture.
The outlier is third nerve palsy. Eye movement abnormality in an alcohol misuser points instead toward Wernicke encephalopathy from thiamine deficiency, where the sixth nerve is typically affected. A true oculomotor palsy is not a recognised component of delirium tremens, so it is the exception.
\[\boxed{\text{Third nerve palsy}}\]
The hallmark features are a fluctuating, clouded sensorium with disorientation and confusion, vivid visual hallucinations often described as small crawling creatures, coarse generalised tremors, severe autonomic storm with fever, sweating and tachycardia, and psychomotor agitation. Three of the listed choices, confusion, coarse tremors, and visual hallucinations, sit squarely within this picture.
The outlier is third nerve palsy. Eye movement abnormality in an alcohol misuser points instead toward Wernicke encephalopathy from thiamine deficiency, where the sixth nerve is typically affected. A true oculomotor palsy is not a recognised component of delirium tremens, so it is the exception.
\[\boxed{\text{Third nerve palsy}}\]
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