Tags

Type your tag names separated by a space and hit enter

[Wernicke's encephalopathy in chronic alcoholics].
Laeknabladid. 2011 01; 97(1):21-9.L

Abstract

Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) is caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency and most commonly found in individuals with chronic alcoholism and malnutrition. Clinically, its key features are mental status disorders and oculomotor abnormalities as well as stance and gait ataxia. The diagnosis of WE is frequently missed although delay of appropriate treatment can lead to death or Korsakoff's amnestic syndrome. It is therefore crucial in suspected cases of WE, not to await confirmation of diagnosis, but immediately administer high-dose intravenous thiamine and simultaneously treat magnesium deficiency. Alcoholics at risk of WE should on admission receive immediate prophylactic therapy with parenteral thiamine.

Links

Publisher Full Text

Authors+Show Affiliations

Thórarinsson BL
Taugalækningadeild Landspítala. bjornlth@hive.is
Ólafsson E
No affiliation info available
Kjartansson Ó
No affiliation info available
Blöndal H
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AlcoholismHumansMagnesium CompoundsMagnesium DeficiencyMagnetic Resonance ImagingPredictive Value of TestsRisk AssessmentRisk FactorsThiamineTreatment OutcomeVitamin B ComplexVitamin B DeficiencyWernicke Encephalopathy

Pub Type(s)

English Abstract
Journal Article
Review

Language

ice

PubMed ID

21217196

Citation

Thórarinsson, Björn Logi, et al. "[Wernicke's Encephalopathy in Chronic Alcoholics]." Laeknabladid, vol. 97, no. 1, 2011, pp. 21-9.
Thórarinsson BL, Ólafsson E, Kjartansson Ó, et al. [Wernicke's encephalopathy in chronic alcoholics]. Laeknabladid. 2011;97(1):21-9.
Thórarinsson, B. L., Ólafsson, E., Kjartansson, Ó., & Blöndal, H. (2011). [Wernicke's encephalopathy in chronic alcoholics]. Laeknabladid, 97(1), 21-9. https://doi.org/10.17992/lbl.2011.01.338
Thórarinsson BL, et al. [Wernicke's Encephalopathy in Chronic Alcoholics]. Laeknabladid. 2011;97(1):21-9. PubMed PMID: 21217196.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - [Wernicke's encephalopathy in chronic alcoholics]. AU - Thórarinsson,Björn Logi, AU - Ólafsson,Elías, AU - Kjartansson,Ólafur, AU - Blöndal,Hannes, PY - 2011/1/11/entrez PY - 2011/1/11/pubmed PY - 2011/2/22/medline SP - 21 EP - 9 JF - Laeknabladid JO - Laeknabladid VL - 97 IS - 1 N2 - Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) is caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency and most commonly found in individuals with chronic alcoholism and malnutrition. Clinically, its key features are mental status disorders and oculomotor abnormalities as well as stance and gait ataxia. The diagnosis of WE is frequently missed although delay of appropriate treatment can lead to death or Korsakoff's amnestic syndrome. It is therefore crucial in suspected cases of WE, not to await confirmation of diagnosis, but immediately administer high-dose intravenous thiamine and simultaneously treat magnesium deficiency. Alcoholics at risk of WE should on admission receive immediate prophylactic therapy with parenteral thiamine. SN - 0023-7213 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/21217196/[Wernicke's_encephalopathy_in_chronic_alcoholics]_ L2 - https://doi.org/10.17992/lbl.2011.01.338 DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -