Shoshin syndrome: report of a treatable disaster

Shoshin syndrome is a rare fulminating heart failure caused by thiamine deficiency. In Japanese "sho" means acute damage and "shin" means heart. It consists of a rare and hyperacute manifestation of beriberi that was first described in polished white rice-eating communities in va...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of acute disease Vol. 8; no. 2; pp. 78 - 81
Main Authors Valobra, Tommaso, Ceratti, Umberto, Cernuschi, Alessandra
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd 01.03.2019
Medical High Dependency Unit, Department of Medicine, Ospedale Niguarda Ca' Granda, Milano, Italy
Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
Subjects
Alcoholic
Beriberi
Buddhism
Care and treatment
Heart failure
Pyrimidines
Shoshin
Thiamine
Wernike
Zen Buddhism
China
Japan
Indonesia
Wernike
Shoshin
Beriberi
Thiamine
Alcoholic
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Summary:Shoshin syndrome is a rare fulminating heart failure caused by thiamine deficiency. In Japanese "sho" means acute damage and "shin" means heart. It consists of a rare and hyperacute manifestation of beriberi that was first described in polished white rice-eating communities in various locations across Asia including China, Japan and Indonesia. In a totally different context, ‘Shoshin’ is a word from Zen Buddhism meaning "beginner's mind", which is considered the necessary attitude to approach the Zen practice. This case report is a prime example of clinical manifestations of thiamine deficiency for the presence of both cardiological and neurological disorders, for hyperacute onset of cardiac failure (shoshin syndrome), for the simultaneous involvement of peripheral and central nervous system, and for the dramatic global recovery after thiamine replacement therapy. We therefore explain why the physician should adopt a beginner’s mind in clinical practice.
ISSN:2221-6189
2221-6189
DOI:10.4103/2221-6189.254431