Serious Indicators Of Wernicke's Encephalopathy

Vision Or Hearing Loss

Wernicke's encephalopathy can present with vision or hearing loss. Vision loss tends to be related to the eye abnormalities. If a patient's eye muscles are weak or paralyzed, and their eyes are misaligned, they may not be able to interpret visual data correctly. Hearing loss, on the other hand, tends to occur more rarely. It's only been recorded in a handful of cases, but the correlation is significant enough that researchers recommend considering Wernicke's encephalopathy as a diagnosis when patients present with hearing loss, eye abnormalities, ataxia, and confusion. In one study, a sixty-one-year-old woman had acute hearing loss in both ears followed by acute and vague disturbances in her vision. In fact, the hearing loss was severe enough that she was almost deaf. After she was treated with IV thiamine, her hearing, eye movements, and cognition became markedly improved within just twelve hours. She had almost returned to her baseline after the first twenty-four hours of treatment.

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