Wernicke's encephalopathy
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia.
Related to Wernicke's encephalopathy: Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, Korsakoff's syndrome
Wernicke's encephalopathy
[′ver·nə‚kēz in‚sef·ə′läp·ə·thē] (medicine)
A disease due to thiamine deficiency, characterized by vomiting, ophthalmoplegia, ptosis, nystagmus, ataxia, weakness, dementia, and hemorrhaging of neurons around the third ventricle, cerebral aqueduct, and mammillary bodies.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.