• Haruki Koike, Shinji Ito, Saori Morozumi, Yuichi Kawagashira, Masahiro Iijima, Naoki Hattori, Fumiaki Tanaka, and Gen Sobue.
• Department of Neurology, Nagoya University School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan.
• Nutrition. 2008 Jul 1;24(7-8):776-80.

ObjectiveWe examined the diagnostic difficulty in thiamine deficiency.MethodsWe report on two patients with polyneuropathy associated with thiamine deficiency (i.e., beriberi neuropathy) that presented with acute motor symptoms mimicking Guillain-Barré syndrome.ResultsThe cause of the thiamine deficiency was associated with gastrectomy to treat cancer in a 46-y-old man and with dietary imbalance in a 33-y-old man. The thiamine deficiency was not related to alcohol intake in either patient. In both patients, the upper and lower extremities showed a rapidly progressive weakness over the course of 1 mo. Muscle weakness in the first patient progressed even after admission to the hospital, and urinary retention, Wernicke's encephalopathy, lactic acidosis, paralytic ileus, and heart failure appeared subsequently. Clinical symptoms in both patients showed improvement after initiation of thiamine administration, although some residual deficit remained.ConclusionThiamine deficiency must be actively considered as a possible cause of polyneuropathy, and variability in its clinical features should be taken into consideration.

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