Annals of Case Reports and Clinical Studies (ISSN: 2834-5673) | Volume 5, Issue 6 | Case Report | Open Access DOI
Shaun Nevil*
Shishir B Nuti¹, Renisha Kiruba S², Khyati Tyagi³, Iswarya Lakshmi S⁴, K Vani Vijay⁵, Shaun Nevil*⁶, S Anton Charles6, Kanishka Verma⁷, Chaitra C.S8
1BGS Global Institute of Medical Sciences, Karnataka
2SRM Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
3Graphic Era Institute of Medical Science, Dehradun
4Government Chengalpattu Medical College & Hospital, Tamil Nadu
5Shimoga Institute of Medical Sciences, Karnataka
6Department of Internal Medicine, ESIC Medical College PGIMSR & Model Hospital, Bengaluru
7Sri Guru Ram Das Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Punjab
8Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine, ESIC Medical College PGIMSR & Model Hospital, Bengaluru
*Correspondence to: Shaun Nevil
Fulltext PDFWernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a neurological disorder resulting from severe thiamine deficiency and is classically associated with chronic alcohol use. Non-alcoholic causes, though less well recognised, include prolonged vomiting, restrictive dietary intake, and other malnourished states. We report a 25-year-old woman with no history of alcohol consumption who presented with a two-day history of confusion, unsteadiness, and horizontal diplopia, together with an inability to recognise close family members, following three weeks of poor oral intake and recurrent vomiting associated with a restrictive diet. Examination revealed disorientation, confabulation, profound anterograde amnesia, horizontal nystagmus, and a broad-based gait. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated changes consistent with Wernicke encephalopathy, and serum thiamine was low. She was treated with high-dose intravenous thiamine prior to glucose administration, along with supportive care. Nystagmus and gait ataxia improved, but the amnestic deficit and confabulation persisted at discharge. This case underscores that thiamine depletion from restrictive eating and prolonged vomiting alone, independent of alcohol use, can precipitate the full Wernicke-Korsakoff triad in young women, and highlights the need for a high index of suspicion and prompt thiamine replacement to prevent irreversible neurological sequelae.
Confabulation; Nystagmus; Wernicke; Diplopia
Shishir B Nuti, Renisha Kiruba S, Khyati Tyagi, Iswarya Lakshmi S, K Vani Vijay, Shaun Nevil, et al. Non-Alcoholic Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome Following Restrictive Diet and Prolonged Vomiting in a Young Woman: A Case Report. Ann Case Rep Clin Stud. 2026;5(6):1-5.