Triad of neurologic complaints with Wernickes encephalopathy
What is the triad of neurologic complaints associated with Wernicke’s encephalopathy?
Wernicke’s encephalopathy is associated with thiamine deficiency.
Clinical symptoms include a triad of ophthalmoparesis, gait ataxia, and disturbances of mental function.
An axonal sensorimotor neuropathy appears in half of patients with this deficiency state, and Korsakoff’s psychosis (dementia associated with profound amnesia and confabulation) is also variably present.
The mortality associated with Wernicke’s encephalopathy is still greater than 10%, although this is more due to concomitant infections and malnutrition than to the neurologic disorders.
