Acute hearing and visual loss caused by thiamine deficiency.
Bilateral blindness
Bilateral hypoacousia
Liver cirrhosis
Wernicke encephalopathy
Journal
BMC neurology
ISSN: 1471-2377
Titre abrégé: BMC Neurol
Pays: England
ID NLM: 100968555
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
31 Jul 2023
31 Jul 2023
Historique:
received:
05
03
2023
accepted:
19
07
2023
medline:
4
8
2023
pubmed:
1
8
2023
entrez:
31
7
2023
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is a devastating acute or subacute neurological disorder caused by thiamine deficiency. Wernicke encephalopathy is characterized by the triad of ocular signs, cerebellar dysfunction, and confusion. Visual loss and hearing loss are less common findings in WE. Here, we report a case of Wernicke encephalopathy in a nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis patient who presented with acute bilateral deafness and bilateral blindness. CASE PRESENTATION: A 60-year-old Chinese man presented with a history of bilateral blindness and bilateral hypoacousia for 3 days. He had a history of liver cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis C virus infection and did not have a habit of alcohol consumption. Ophthalmologic and otologic examinations showed no obvious abnormalities. MRI findings revealed symmetric fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) hyperintensities in the bilateral medial dorsal thalamus, periventricular region around the third ventricle and tectum, and dorsal medulla oblongata. One day after hospitalization, the patient developed a mild coma. Based on the laboratory and neuroimaging findings, we diagnosed the patient with Wernicke encephalopathy. He soon regained consciousness after administration of thiamine. Both his visual acuity and his hearing function improved gradually. We suggest that Wernicke encephalopathy can present with bilateral blindness and bilateral deafness.
Sections du résumé
BACKGROUND
BACKGROUND
Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is a devastating acute or subacute neurological disorder caused by thiamine deficiency. Wernicke encephalopathy is characterized by the triad of ocular signs, cerebellar dysfunction, and confusion. Visual loss and hearing loss are less common findings in WE. Here, we report a case of Wernicke encephalopathy in a nonalcoholic liver cirrhosis patient who presented with acute bilateral deafness and bilateral blindness. CASE PRESENTATION: A 60-year-old Chinese man presented with a history of bilateral blindness and bilateral hypoacousia for 3 days. He had a history of liver cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis C virus infection and did not have a habit of alcohol consumption. Ophthalmologic and otologic examinations showed no obvious abnormalities. MRI findings revealed symmetric fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) hyperintensities in the bilateral medial dorsal thalamus, periventricular region around the third ventricle and tectum, and dorsal medulla oblongata. One day after hospitalization, the patient developed a mild coma. Based on the laboratory and neuroimaging findings, we diagnosed the patient with Wernicke encephalopathy. He soon regained consciousness after administration of thiamine. Both his visual acuity and his hearing function improved gradually.
CONCLUSIONS
CONCLUSIONS
We suggest that Wernicke encephalopathy can present with bilateral blindness and bilateral deafness.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37525097
doi: 10.1186/s12883-023-03337-w
pii: 10.1186/s12883-023-03337-w
pmc: PMC10388443
doi:
Types de publication
Case Reports
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
285Informations de copyright
© 2023. The Author(s).
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