Wernicke's encephalopathy induced by total parental nutrition

Wernicke's encephalopathy is an acute neurological syndrome due to thiamine deficiency, which is characterized by a typical triad of mental status changes, oculomotor dysfunction and ataxia. Despite the fact that Wernicke's encephalopathy, in developed countries, is frequently associated with chronic alcoholism, there have been a number of published cases associating this encephalopathy with parenteral feeding without vitamin supplementation. Diagnosis is primarily a clinical one, and can be supported by laboratory tests and imaging studies; treatment should start as soon as possible, for the morbidity and mortality (almost 20%) associated with this syndrome is high. Thiamine supplementation, along with other vitamins, is recommended for patients in risk of developing this syndrome.

Bibliographic Details

Main Authors:	Sequeira Lopes da Silva,J. T., Almaraz Velarde,R., Olgado Ferrero,F., Robles Marcos,M., Pérez Civantos,D., Ramírez Moreno,J. M., Luengo Pérez,L. M.
Format:	Digital revista
Language:	English
Published:	Grupo Arán 2010
Online Access:	http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0212-16112010000600021
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