title: Wernicke's Encephalopathy in Colon Cancer.
abstract: Wernicke's syndrome, caused by thiamine deficiency, is most commonly associated with alcoholism but can also occur in patients who are malnourished or have malabsorption of nutrients for other reasons. Since the classic triad of encephalopathy, nystagmus and ataxia occurs simultaneously in only 10-33% of cases, a high index of suspicion is needed in any patient with confusion and memory loss. In this case report, we present a 56-year-old female patient with metastatic colon cancer complicated with enterocutaneous fistula. She developed Wernicke's encephalopathy precipitated by 5-fluorouracil infusion. Replacement with thiamine rapidly reversed her neurologic symptoms and signs.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Berrin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Papila
authors.forename: Ozcan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yildiz
authors.forename: Deniz
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tural
authors.forename: Sakir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delil
authors.forename: Zehra Isik
authors.initials: ZI
authors.lastname: Hasiloglu
authors.forename: Fadil
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ayan
authors.forename: Cigdem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Papila