Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Brief Clinical Note

Analysis of factors leading to brain MRI lesions in Wernicke's encephalopathy

Daisuke Kuzume, M.D., Yuko Morimoto, M.D., Satoshi Tsutsumi, M.D., Ph.D., Masahiro Yamasaki, M.D. and Naohisa Hosomi, M.D., Ph.D.

Department of Neurology, Chikamori Hospital

[Objective] To investigate association between Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) and brain MRI. [Subjects] 26 patients (7 females, mean age 63.9 ± 12.7 years) with WE admitted to our department between May 2008 and September 2022. [Methods] Wernicke's encephalopathy in patients with MRI lesions was defined as “MRI-positive group” (MPG), and those without MRI lesions as “MRI-negative group” (MNG). The following parameters were assessed between the two groups: age, sex, alcoholism, neurological symptoms, vitamin B1, lymphocyte, total cholesterol, albumin, and outcome at discharge. [Results] There were 17 patients in MPG. Compared to MNG, MPG had lower rates of alcohol abuse (10.0% vs 77.8%, P = 0.025), lower vitamin B1 (median 10.0 ng/ml vs 29.0 ng/ml, P < 0.001), and more vitamin B1 treatment dose (median 1900 mg vs 600 mg, P = 0.016). [Conclusion] Alcoholic WE may be overlooked if the focus is solely on brain MRI findings.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (204K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 64: 361|363, 2024)
key words: Wernicke encephalopathy, Brain MRI, Alcoholism

(Received: 21-Aug-23)