Thiamine Treatment can Reduce Mortality Risk in Acute Non-Infectious Infantile Encephalopathy

A new study aimed to characterize clinical and investigational findings and assess the impact of thiamine treatment on mortality in patients with acute non-infectious encephalopathy admitted to a Sikkim hospital from 2019-2021. 

This was a retrospective study that included 37 patients (median age 4 months) – 62.2% were males, and 75% were exclusively breastfed infants. Ophthalmologic and respiratory abnormalities were observed in 67.6% and 89.2% of patients, respectively, with common multisystem involvement.

Neuroimaging depicted bilateral basal ganglia involvement in 75% of the cases, and one infant had confirmed biochemical thiamine deficiency. It was noted that thiamine treatment was associated with significantly lower mortality, with none of the 11 treated patients succumbing, compared to a 76.9% case fatality rate in the untreated group. 

Thus, it was inferred that thiamine use was linked to decreased mortality among patients with acute non-infectious encephalopathy and bilateral basal ganglia involvement.

Source: Gurung B, Bhutia TD, Chettri S, Mummadi MK, Bondre VP. Indian Journal of Pediatrics. 2023 Oct 26:1-3.