A common cause of altered mental status occurring at an uncommon age.

Wernicke's encephalopathy is a neurologic disorder due to a nutritional deficiency of thiamine, characterized by ocular palsies, ataxia, and altered mental activity. While Wernicke's encephalopathy is commonly attributed to alcoholism in the adult population, it has been described in children receiving prolonged parenteral nutrition and those with malignancies and AIDS. The disease, however, is rarely diagnosed in the pediatric population during life. We report a case of Wernicke's encephalopathy in a child with prolonged starvation and aim to improve awareness of a potentially fatal but treatable disease.