Abstract
A case of beriberi heart disease which developed in a fifteen year old boy was reported. He started to drink much of alcohol and lived alone with unbalanced eating habit for several months after he graduated from a middle school. The diagnosis of beriberi heart was adequately done by the specified tests with the determination of blood thiamine level and transketolase activity. Thiamine administration resulted in prompt recovery of his cardiac incompetence, and there was also noted marked improvements of his peripheral neuropathy and EEG abnormalities. Thus, cardiac failure caused by thiamine deficiency was properly differentiated from the similar clinical condition due to either idiopathic or alcoholic cardiomyopathies. The possibility that thiamine deficiency may induce some CNS disordeds is discussed.
