Nonalcoholic Wernicke's encephalopathy

Abstract

Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) is a serious neurologic condition resulting from thiamine deficiency. The majority of cases involve alcoholism; however, nonalcohol-associated WE does occur and is under-recognized. We discuss a case of a 22-year-old man with a history of Crohn's disease who presented to our emergency department with multiple neurologic complaints related to WE.

Keywords: Wernicke’s encephalopathy; nutritional deficiency; thiamine deficiency.