Liang Hudong, Wu Lan, Liu Ling-Ling, Han Jinming, Zhu Jie, Jin Tao
1 Department of Neurology and Neuroscience Center, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
2 Department of Pediatrics, the First Hospital of Jilin University, Jilin University, Changchun, China.
J Int Med Res. 2017 Dec;45(6):1794-1801. doi: 10.1177/0300060517699039. Epub 2017 Apr 3.
We report a rare case of non-alcoholic Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) with polyneuropathy. A 24-year-old woman who had recently served a 4-month prison sentence and underwent a short period of dieting manifested slow response, weakness, language disorder and amnesia. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed typical lesions of WE. Examination of nerve conduction velocity revealed sensory-motor axonal polyneuropathy. The patient was immediately treated with thiamine. Neurological symptoms were alleviated in a few days and abnormal signals were markedly decreased in a follow-up MRI 1 week later. Polyneuropathy symptoms ameliorated during hospital therapy and significantly improved after 4 months. This case suggests that WE may be associated with polyneuropathy in non-alcoholic patients. Early thiamine treatment in symptomatic patients may improve prognosis.
我们报告一例罕见的非酒精性韦尼克脑病（WE）合并多发性神经病病例。一名24岁女性，近期刚服完4个月刑期，且经历了短期节食，出现反应迟钝、虚弱、语言障碍和失忆症状。脑部磁共振成像（MRI）显示出典型的韦尼克脑病病变。神经传导速度检查显示为感觉运动轴索性多发性神经病。患者立即接受了硫胺素治疗。数天内神经症状得到缓解，1周后的随访MRI显示异常信号明显减少。住院治疗期间多发性神经病症状有所改善，4个月后显著好转。该病例提示，非酒精性患者的韦尼克脑病可能与多发性神经病有关。有症状患者早期使用硫胺素治疗可能改善预后。
