Cytomegalovirus ventriculoencephalitis presenting as a Wernicke's encephalopathy-like syndrome.

Cytomegalovirus ventriculoencephalitis (CMV-VE) is a devastating opportunistic infection seen most frequently in patients with AIDS. The authors describe eight patients with AIDS and CMV-VE, who developed the clinical features of the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome, including impaired memory, confabulation, nystagmus, ophthalmoplegia, and ataxia. CMV-VE is perhaps a more frequent cause of the Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome than traditional associations.