Ann Clin Neurophysiol.  2019 Jan;21(1):53-56. 10.14253/acn.2019.21.1.53.

Miller Fisher syndrome mimicking Wernicke encephalopathy during pregnancy

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Neurology, Busan Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea. seongil.oh@gmail.com
  • 2Department of Neurology, Dong-A University Hospital, Dong-A University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea.

Abstract

Miller Fisher syndrome (MFS) is characterized by ataxia, areflexia, and ophthalmoparesis. Here we present a case of MFS mimicking Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) during pregnancy. A 31-year-old woman at 8 weeks of gestation presented with diplopia and ataxia after experiencing nausea and vomiting for several weeks. We initiated thiamine based on a suspicion of WE, which produced no clear effects. However, her symptoms began to improve following intravenous immunoglobulin treatment, and other findings finally lead to a diagnosis of MFS. Because ataxia and ophthalmoparesis can be misdiagnosed as WE during pregnancy, clinicians should consider MFS in the differential diagnosis.

Keyword

Miller Fisher syndrome; Pregnancy; Wernicke encephalopathy

MeSH Terms

Adult
Ataxia
Diagnosis
Diagnosis, Differential
Diplopia
Female
Humans
Immunoglobulins
Miller Fisher Syndrome*
Nausea
Ophthalmoplegia
Pregnancy*
Thiamine
Vomiting
Wernicke Encephalopathy*
Immunoglobulins
Thiamine

Reference

References

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