Wernicke's encephalopathy is an acute neuropsychiatric syndrome resulting from thiamine deficiency, which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. According to autopsy-based studies, the disorder is still greatly underdiagnosed in both adults and children. In this review, we provide an update on the factors and clinical settings that predispose to Wernicke's encephalopathy, and discuss the most recent insights into epidemiology, pathophysiology, genetics, diagnosis, and treatment. To facilitate the diagnosis, we classify the common and rare symptoms at presentation and the late-stage symptoms. We emphasise the optimum dose of parenteral thiamine required for prophylaxis and treatment of Wernicke's encephalopathy and prevention of Korsakoff's syndrome associated with alcohol misuse. A systematic approach helps to ensure that patients receive a prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment.

http://unmhospitalist.pbworks.com/f/Wernickes+encephalopathy.pdf

Wernicke's encephalopathy: new clinical settings and recent advances in diagnosis and management

The Royal College of Physicians (London) recently published its latest report on alcohol misuse entitled ‘Alcohol — Can the NHS Afford It?’. Part of this document, encompassing our views, has made specific recommendations for the management of patients in the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Department who may possibly have, or are at risk of developing, Wernicke’s encephalopathy. Patients showing evidence of chronic alcohol misuse and suspected of having a poor diet should be treated at the outset with B vitamins intravenously or intramuscularly, especially when the clinical signs are initially masked by drunkenness at presentation to the A&E Department. This commentary offers a review of the scientific foundations on which these recommendations have been made.

/pdf/the-royal-college-of-physicians-report-on-alcohol-guidelines-fd1dn7s3jq.pdf

The royal college of physicians report on alcohol: guidelines for managing wernicke’s encephalopathy in the accident and emergency department

Between 50% and 80% of individuals with alcohol use disorders experience mild to severe neurocognitive impairment. There is a strong clinical rationale that neurocognitive impairment is an important source of individual difference affecting many aspects of addiction treatment, but empirical tests of the direct influence of impairment on treatment outcome have yielded weak and inconsistent results. The authors address the schism between applied-theoretical perspectives and research evidence by suggesting alternative conceptual models of the relationship between neurocognitive impairment and addiction treatment outcome. Methods to promote neurocognitive recovery and ways in which addiction treatments may be modified to improve psychosocial adaptation are suggested. Specific suggestions for future research that may help clarify the complex relations between neurocognitive impairment and addiction treatment are outlined.

Neurocognitive impairment associated with alcohol use disorders: implications for treatment.

One of the sequelae of chronic alcohol abuse is malnutrition. Importantly, a deficiency in thiamine (vitamin B(1)) can result in the acute, potentially reversible neurological disorder Wernicke encephalopathy (WE). When WE is recognized, thiamine treatment can elicit a rapid clinical recovery. If WE is left untreated, however, patients can develop Korsakoff syndrome (KS), a severe neurological disorder characterized by anterograde amnesia. Alcohol-related brain damage (ARBD) describes the effects of chronic alcohol consumption on human brain structure and function in the absence of more discrete and well-characterized neurological concomitants of alcoholism such as WE and KS. Through knowledge of both the well-described changes in brain structure and function that are evident in alcohol-related disorders such as WE and KS and the clinical outcomes associated with these changes, researchers have begun to gain a better understanding of ARBD. This Review examines ARBD from the perspective of WE and KS, exploring the clinical presentations, postmortem brain pathology, in vivo MRI findings and potential molecular mechanisms associated with these conditions. An awareness of the consequences of chronic alcohol consumption on human behavior and brain structure can enable clinicians to improve detection and treatment of ARBD.

Clinical and pathological features of alcohol-related brain damage

Aims: To identify the early clinical indications of thiamine deficiency and to understand the factors involved in the development of the amnesic state in alcohol-dependent individuals with thiamine deficiency. It is hoped that this will highlight the need for clinicians to treat alcohol-dependent patients prophylactically with parenteral thiamine and thus prevent the development of Korsakoff's Psychosis (KP). Method: We have reviewed the natural history and pathophysiology of Wernicke's Encephalopathy (WE) in both human and animal studies together with any contributory factors that may predispose the individual to thiamine defi- ciency. A further understanding of these problems is provided by recent studies into the metabolic consequences of thiamine deficiency and alcohol misuse. Conclusions:Where WE is due to thiamine deficiency alone (i.e. in the absence of alcohol misuse) KP rarely super- venes following thiamine replacement therapy. Successful treatment or prophylaxis of WE in alcohol dependence probably depends on a number of inter-related issues and is not simply a matter of early and adequate thiamine treatment. If sufficient alcohol-related neuro- toxicity has occurred by the time of diagnosis, then this may be the more important or limiting factor with respect to the long-term out- come. This possible obstacle to complete recovery should not prevent every attempt being made to provide the patient with optimum brain thiamine replacement.

The natural history and pathophysiology of wernicke's encephalopathy and korsakoff's psychosis

Alcohol misuse and alcohol withdrawal are associated with a vanety of neuropsychiat ric syndromes, some of which are associated with significant morbidity and mortality B vitamin deficiency is known to contribute to the aetiology of a number of these syndromes, and B vitamin supplementation thus plays a significant part in prophylaxis and treatment. In particular, the Wemicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS), due to thiamine deficiency, is a common condition in association with alcohol misuse, and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Nicotinamide deficiency may result in a rarer condition, alcoholic pellagra encephalopathy, which often has a similar clinical presentation to WKS. This review considers the role of B vitamins in the aetiology and treatment of neuropsychiat ric syndromes associated with alcohol misuse, with particular emphasis on WKS.

Phillip M. Hallwood

Papers

B vitamin deficiency and neuropsychiatric syndromes in alcohol misuse