A 58-year-old male stumbles into a local soup kitchen mumbling about aliens and space craft. He is dirty, unshaven, wearing tattered clothing, and reeking of alcohol. He is discovered to have died in the alleyway during the night. At autopsy, a sagittal section through the brain shows severe pigmentation of the mammillary bodies due to apparent hemorrhage. A deficiency in which of the following vitamins would be expected to cause hemorrhaging in this brain structure?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Thiamin deficiency can lead to Wernicke's encephalopathy, which is characterized by hemorrhagic lesions in the mammillary bodies. This condition is often associated with chronic alcoholism.  The mammillary bodies are a pair of small round bodies, located on the undersurface of the brain, and, as part of the diencephalon, form part of the limbic system. Damage to the mammillary bodies due to thiamine deficiency is implied in the pathogenesis of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome. Symptoms include impaired memory, also called anterograde amnesia, suggesting that the mammillary bodies may be important for memory.

A 58-Year-Old Male Stumbles into a Local Soup Kitchen Mumbling