title: Diffusion abnormalities in patients with Wernicke encephalopathy.
abstract: Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) can help to diagnose acute ischemic stroke. Other nonischemic disorders may show abnormal signals with DWI. The authors report two cases of Wernicke encephalopathy with DWI signal changes in characteristic midline locations, one with reduction in apparent diffusion constant and one without. DWI abnormalities may suggest early thiamine deficiency and are useful in diagnosing Wernicke encephalopathy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA. mdoherty@u.washington.edu
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Doherty
authors.forename: N F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.forename: D K
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Hallam
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Cramer
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013832:Thiamine Deficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014899:Wernicke Encephalopathy / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology