What is the definition or description of: wernicke encephalopathy?

Thiamine deficiency: Occurring in chronic alcoholics, chronic malnutrition, rarely during cancer chemo or pancreatitis. Symptoms include, confusion, disorientation, hallucinations, memory loss, abnormal eye movements including nystagmus and double vision, incoordination and imbalance. With prompt thiamine, symptoms may clear within a few days, but 25 % develop korsakoff's psychosis with permanent memory impairments.

See below: Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome is the best known neurologic complication of thiamine (vitamin b1) deficiency. The term refers to two different syndromes, each representing a different stage of the disease. Wernicke's encephalopathy (we) is an acute syndrome requiring emergent treatment to prevent death and neurologic morbidity. Korsakoff's syndrome (ks) refers to a chronic neurologic condition that u.