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Wernicke’s encephalopathy in a patient with nephrotic syndrome

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Abstract

We report on a 6-year-old boy with nephrotic syndrome (NS) who developed Wernicke’s encephalopathy (WE) concomitantly with posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). In this case, the recurrence of encephalopathy with different causes made his clinical picture complex, and the follow-up findings of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were critically useful for the adequate diagnosis and timely management of the patient. This case suggests the need to consider WE as a possible serious complication in patients with NS, and also emphasizes the usefulness of MRI in the diagnosis of WE, especially in pediatric cases with complex clinical symptoms.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric Cardiology and Nephrology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Graduate School of Medical Science, Kawaramachi-Hirokoji, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto, 602-8566, Japan

    Masashi Nishida, Hisashi Sato, Naho Kobayashi & Kenji Hamaoka

  2. Department of Pediatrics, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine Graduate School of Medical Science, Kyoto, Japan

    Masafumi Morimoto

Authors
  1. Masashi Nishida
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  2. Hisashi Sato
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  3. Naho Kobayashi
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  4. Masafumi Morimoto
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  5. Kenji Hamaoka
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Correspondence to Masashi Nishida.

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Nishida, M., Sato, H., Kobayashi, N. et al. Wernicke’s encephalopathy in a patient with nephrotic syndrome. Eur J Pediatr 168, 731–734 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-008-0833-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-008-0833-8

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