A Summertime Stupor

Abstract

Most commonly seen with alcohol use disorder in the developed world, Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE), a disorder caused by thiamine deficiency can be readily missed in the setting of other predisposing conditions such as malnutrition, the most common cause worldwide. We present a case of a 21-year-old female with sudden progressive decline in her level of alertness and mentation along with severe hypothermia who had clinical features and imaging findings consistent with WE in the setting of pancreatitis and chronic gastritis. WE should be suspected in all patients who present with altered mental status (AMS) and who are at an increased risk of malnutrition despite a normal or high body mass index, so that treatment with thiamine may be initiated and further neurologic sequelae can be averted.