Open AccessThe effectiveness of using thiamine in the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome
Author(s) -
Virgínia Madureira Costa,
Iris Maria de Miranda Correia,
Laís Michela Rodrigues Sales Arruda,
José Leandro da Silva Menezes Diniz,
Maria Tereza Corrêa de Araújo,
Maysa Aiany Dias de Sousa Alves,
Maria Fernanda Paes de Assis,
Vitória Azevedo da Silveira,
Vitória Raquel Aguiar Bezerra Dantas,
Viviane Antunes de Souza,
Wagner Gonçalves Horta
Publication year - 2021
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Conference proceedings
DOI - 10.5327/1516-3180.380
Subject(s) - thiamine , ataxia , medicine , intensive care medicine , pediatrics , psychiatry
The Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome is a condition caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency in the brain, being a debilitating and potentially fatal factor. It is characterized by a classic triad: delirium, ophthalmoparesis and ataxia. Objectives: Analyze the possible effectiveness of using thiamine in the prognostic change of patients with the syndrome, as well as the ideal dose and identification of possible secondary outcomes of the use of thiamine. Methods: A systematic review made in March 2021, included studies published between 2011-2021. The descriptors selected according to the MeSH platform, were inserted in the SCIELO, Lilacs and PubMed databases, resulting in a total of 323 studies, of which only 8 were selected. Results: Among the 8 evaluated articles, 5 reinforce the effectiveness of thiamine therapy, with prognostic changes in those patients, and only 4 of these studies describe their clinical evolution, showing mostly a gradual regression of the ocular manifestations and ataxia, while neurological symptoms tend to develop later. Thus 62,5% of the articles show improvement of patients with these therapeutics. Other studies do not refer to the prognosis after the institution of the treatment. About the dose, it was observed that the therapeutic effectiveness was related to higher doses of thiamine. Conclusion: Most of the analyzed studies were favorable to the hypothesis of the early use of thiamine in regression of the symptoms. Regarding the most effective dose, the topic still needs studies with high scientific evidence, as it hasn’t yet been thoroughly discussed in the literature.