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DIAGNOSIS OF WERNICKE'S ENCEPHALOPATHY
Author(s) -
BREW B. J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 0004-8291
DOI - 10.1111/j.1445-5994.1986.tb00011.x
Subject(s) - medicine , wernicke's encephalopathy , confusion , encephalopathy , ataxia , pediatrics , wernicke encephalopathy , population , thiamine , thiamine deficiency , psychiatry , psychology , environmental health , psychoanalysis
Records of the emergency medical admissions to a large teaching hospital over a one year period were examined for evidence of Wernicke's encephalopathy or Korsakoff's syndrome. It was found that only 0.4% of the population studied had the classical triad of Wernicke's encephalopathy, namely confusion, ophthalmoplegia, and ataxia. If two of these three criteria are allowed in the absence of other causes then 2.2% of the population had this limited Wernicke's encephalopathy or Korsakoff's syndrome. It is concluded that the diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy should not rely on the presence of all three criteria; any two of the three in the absence of other causes will suffice for the diagnosis. (Aust NZ J Med 1986; 16: 676–678.)