We present a case of a 25-year-old woman with drowsiness, nystagmus, severe ataxia and areflexia, which developed six weeks after admission to an obstetric clinic for hyperemesis gravidarum. She had been treated with intravenous dextrose and electrolyte solutions and antiemetics. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed on the fifth day of her neurologic symptoms showed increased intensity in both thalami, periaqueductal grey matter, the floor of the fourth ventricle and superior cerebellar vermis in T2 weighted and FLAIR images. Clinical signs and MRI findings were consistent with the diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy. On the third day of thiamine replacement, neurologic signs improved dramatically In addition to our case, we review 29 previously reported cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy associated with hyperemesis gravidarum, and emphasize the importance of thiamine supplementation to women with prolonged vomiting in pregnancy especially if they are given intravenous or parenteral nutrition.

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We analysed somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) in the patients with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy (JME) in order to find out if sodium valproate (VPA) affects SEP latencies and amplitudes.SEPs were studied in 23 patients with JME receiving VPA monotherapy, eight patients with JME not receiving VPA, and a control group consisting of 20 healthy subjects.The N20, P24, and N34 latencies bilaterally were significantly prolonged in the JME group receiving VPA as compared with the control group. In the untreated patients the P24, and N34 latencies bilaterally and the N20-P24 interpeak latency on the right, were significantly prolonged as compared with the control group. In addition, in the patient group without treatment, the N20-P24 amplitudes bilaterally and the P24-N34 amplitudes from left sided median nerve stimulation, were greater as compared with the control group.In the SEP latencies, no significant differences were observed between the patients treated and untreated with VPA. Regarding SEP amplitudes, in the untreated group, while the N20-P24 amplitudes from right sided median nerve stimulation were significantly enhanced, all the other amplitudes also showed increase, even insignificant, as compared with the patients treated by VPA.These findings suggest that the SEPs latencies are prolonged, and the amplitudes are enhanced in JME. The changes of the SEPs latency in JME could be due to abnormal synaptic transmission and not influenced by VPA. On the other hand, the increase of the amplitude tends to be lowered by VPA.

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It was concluded that the duration of migraine has no influence on pattern-reversal visual evoked potentials and that the pathogenesis of early- and late-onset migraine may be different.