Wernicke’s Encephalopathy Associated with Methanol Ingestion

Abstract

Wernicke’s Encephalopathy (WE) is an acute onset disease characterized by ophtalmoplegy, ataxia and confusion. Thiamine (B1) deficiency is responsible essentially from etiology. In this article, we represent a case of WE following the methanol ingestion. A 39 year old right-handed male patient was brought to emergency department with nausea, vomiting, nonsense talking, and imbalance in walking after drinking 300 cc cologne contenting methanol. On admission, the patient was awake but he was apathic and disorientated. He had a global amnesia, ataxia, diplopia and nystagmus. A short time later, he developed decreased sight findings. The patient’s cranial MRI relieved the thalamic and cerebellar intensity changes. The patient was treated with a thiamine cure and in the third day he totally recovered. We think that WE may develop following methanol ingestion and early treatment is important in the prognosis.

Keywords

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Metanol Alımı İle İlişkili Wernicke Ensefalopatisi

Öz

Wernicke Ensefalopatisi (WE) oftalmopleji, ataksi ve konfüzyon ile karekterize akut başlayan bir hastalıktır. Hastalığın etyolojisinden esas olarak tiamin eksikliği sorumlu tutulmaktadır. Biz bu makalede metanol alınımını takiben Wernicke Ensefalopati geliştirmiş bir olguyu sunarız. 39 yaşındaki sağ elini kullanan erkek hasta, metanol içeren kolonyadan 300 cc içdikten sonra başlayan bulantı, kusma, konuşma ve yürüme bozukluğu ile acil servise getirildi. Başvuruda hasta uyanıktı, fakat apatik görünümünde ve dezoryante idi. Hastanın global amnezi, ataksi, diplopi ve nistagmusu vardı. Kısa bir sure sonra, hastanın görmesi azaldı. Bunun üzerine elde edilen kraniyal MRI’de talamik ve serebellar intensite değişikliği vardı. Hasta tiamin ile tedavi edildi ve üçüncü günde tam olarak düzeldi. Biz methanol alınımını takiben WE gelişebileceği ve erken tiamin tedavisinin hastalığın prognozunda önemli olduğunu düşünmekteyiz.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Acil servis, metanol alımı, Wernicke Ensefalopatisi, erken tiamin tedavisi

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12. Kabul Tarihi: 23.03.2008