Substance Use Disorders · NEET PG Preparation Psychiatry
A 32-year-old chronic user of alcohol is brought to the emergency department by his family with complaints of acute confusion, staggering gait, and a…
Practice question from Substance Use Disorders (NEET PG Preparation Psychiatry), with the correct answer and a step-by-step solution.
easy · MCQ · Q-E27259
A 32-year-old chronic user of alcohol is brought to the emergency department by his family with complaints of acute confusion, staggering gait, and abnormal eye movements including bilateral lateral rectus palsy and horizontal nystagmus. Which of the following brain structures is most characteristically involved in this condition?
- A.Mammillary bodies and periaqueductal gray matterCorrect answer
- B.Substantia nigra and locus coeruleus
- C.Nucleus accumbens and ventral tegmental area
- D.Hippocampus and amygdala
Solution
The patient is presenting with Wernicke encephalopathy, characterized by the classic triad of ophthalmoplegia, ataxia, and confusion due to thiamine (Vitamin B1) deficiency, typically seen in chronic alcohol use. Neuropathologically, it characteristically involves the medial thalamus, mammillary bodies, periaqueductal gray matter, and walls of the third ventricle.
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