Atrophic mammillary bodies with hypointensities on susceptibility-weighted images: A case-study in Korsakoff syndrome

Korsakoff syndrome (KS) is a largely irreversible residual syndrome mainly caused by chronic and excessive alcohol consumption with thiamine deficiency [1]. Some of KS are occurring after incomplete recovery from Wernicke encephalopathy (WE), however some does not follow a clear-cut WE episode [2]. Because some patients have a more insidious onset, KS is diagnosed more commonly in alcoholics at post-mortem than it is in life [3]. Although magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows to visualise oedematous lesions in acute-phase WE, the neuroradiological diagnosis of chronic KS is difficult [4].

Source: Journal of the Neurological Sciences - October 25, 2019 Category: Neurology Authors: Toshimasa Ikeda, Keita Sakurai, Noriyuki Matsukawa, Mari Yoshida Tags: Letter to the Editor Source Type: research