Acute encephalopathy due to coexistent nicotinic acid and thiamine deficiency.

We report the case of an alcoholic woman with confusion, catatonia and extrapyramidal signs, who developed features of the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome after treatment with intravenous high potency vitamins. We emphasise that this should arouse the suspicion of nicotinic acid deficiency even in the absence of gastrointestinal symptoms or skin lesions.