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Case Reports: Reminder of important clinical lesson
Wernicke encephalopathy after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in a young patient
  1. Deepak Kalbi1,
  2. Ali Al Sbihi2,3,
  3. Harsh Parekh4 and
  4. Ahmed J Chaudhary3
  1. 1Nuclear Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, USA
  2. 2Internal Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
  3. 3Internal Medicine, Sinai Grace Hospital, Detroit, Michigan, USA
  4. 4School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ali Al Sbihi; aalsbihi{at}dmc.org

Abstract

We report a case of Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) in a woman in her 20s who had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery for severe obesity, which resulted in a severe depletion of the patient’s thiamine reserve and development of WE syndrome, we also emphasise the importance of prompt diagnosis of this serious complication in addition to the importance of adequate therapy.

  • neurology (drugs and medicines)
  • gastrointestinal surgery
  • ophthalmology
  • obesity (nutrition)
  • nutritional support

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2021-247710

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors DK: wrote most part of the manuscript, obtained the images and did most literature review. Did the major part of reviewing the revised manuscript. AAS: corresponding author who obtained the consent from patient, reviewed the manuscript in detail and uploaded it again to the dashboard. Wrote the cover letter and added two learning points. HP: medical student who wrote the initial case presentation and investigations’ findings. AJC: Internal Medicine attending on the case who helped with the final editing. He also re-reviewed the manuscript and did proofread the discussion and references part for the team again. DK, AAS have reviewed the manuscript again and made the changes. AJC reviewed them.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.