Question:medium
A 25 year old alcoholic presented with edema, hypertension, ocular disturbance, and changes in mental state. A diagnosis of high output cardiac failure with Wet Beri Beri was made. This is due to deficiency of which vitamin?
A 25 year old alcoholic presented with edema, hypertension, ocular disturbance, and changes in mental state. A diagnosis of high output cardiac failure with Wet Beri Beri was made. This is due to deficiency of which vitamin?
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Wet beriberi in an alcoholic - think thiamine.
Updated On: Jun 23, 2026
- Vitamin B3
- Vitamin B6
- Vitamin B9
- Vitamin B1
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The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: A chronic drinker with heart failure plus neurological and ocular signs points strongly to thiamine deficiency, the vitamin most easily lost in alcoholism.
Step 2: Thiamine lack produces wet beriberi, where blood vessels dilate widely. The heart compensates with a high-output state, and fluid is retained via aldosterone, giving the edema and raised pressure described.
Step 3: The most severe variant, Shoshin beriberi, adds cyanosis, tachycardia, and engorged neck veins. All of this traces back to one missing vitamin - $B_1$ (thiamine). B3, B6, and B9 deficiencies cause different syndromes.\[\boxed{Vitamin\ B1}\]
Step 2: Thiamine lack produces wet beriberi, where blood vessels dilate widely. The heart compensates with a high-output state, and fluid is retained via aldosterone, giving the edema and raised pressure described.
Step 3: The most severe variant, Shoshin beriberi, adds cyanosis, tachycardia, and engorged neck veins. All of this traces back to one missing vitamin - $B_1$ (thiamine). B3, B6, and B9 deficiencies cause different syndromes.\[\boxed{Vitamin\ B1}\]
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