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Case Reports
. 2020 Aug 25;12(8):e10012.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.10012.

Wernicke's Encephalopathy Associated With Transient Gestational Hyperthyroidism and Hyperemesis Gravidarum

Shakeel Ahmed  1 , Dania Ahmed  2 , Salem Abo Salah  3 , Joe Mathew  4 , Zohaib Yousaf  5   4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Wernicke's Encephalopathy Associated With Transient Gestational Hyperthyroidism and Hyperemesis Gravidarum

Shakeel Ahmed et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) is a potentially reversible yet severe neurological manifestation caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. It is commonly associated with heavy alcohol consumption. Other rare causes include severe and prolonged vomiting, starvation, and prolonged intravenous feeding. WE patients usually present with the triad of ocular signs, ataxia, and confusion. In non-alcoholic patients, the full classic triad develops in 10-16% of cases. Characteristic MRI findings and clinical response to thiamine confirm the diagnosis. In this report, we present a case of WE in the setting of transient gestational hyperthyroidism and hyperemesis gravidarum (HG).

Keywords: hyperemesis gravidarum; hyperthyroidism; pregnancy; transient gestational hyperthyroidism; wernicke's encephalopathy.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Hyper-intense signals in the medial thalamus (arrows)
Figure 2
Figure 2. Hyper-intense signals in mammillary bodies (arrows)
Figure 3
Figure 3. Hyper-intense signals in the peri-aqueductal area (arrows)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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