Thiamine supplementation in hospitalized patients with altered mental status: does it help?

Objective: To describe thiamine-prescribing patterns and to study the association of thiamine supplementation with clinical outcomes in hospitalized patients with altered mental status (AMS).

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of all adult hospitalized patients with AMS with index admission in calendar year 2017. We studied the association of a) supplemental thiamine and b) timing of thiamine relative to glucose, with hospital outcomes - length of stay (LOS), 90-day readmission rates, and mortality rates - using linear, logistic, and extended Cox models, respectively.

A Case of Monocytic Pleocytosis in West Nile Virus Encephalitis and Review of the Literature.

West Nile Virus (WNV) encephalitis CSF findings are usually described as polymorphonuclear pleocytosis initially followed by lymphocytic pleocytosis. We report a 68-year-old female with WNV encephalitis monocytic pleocytosis and flaccid quadriparesis with ventral roots enhancement. We suggest the inclusion of neuroinvasive WNV in the differential of encephalopathy with flaccid paralysis despite a monocytic pleocytosis.

A case of positional central sleep apnea due to compression of the left vertebral artery on brainstem.

Studies evaluating the association between Central Sleep Apnea (CSA) and positional sleep apnea are not commonly described and are barely understood. We report a case of a 51-year-old-male with moderate Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and severe CSA probably secondary to brainstem compression, which responded to the adoption of strict lateral body posture. The addition of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) optimally resolved the remaining obstructive respiratory events.