Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is an acute reaction to thiamine deficiency, which presents with the classic triad of ocular findings, cerebellar dysfunction, and confusion. However, thiamine deficiency can also present with several neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms other than the classical triad. We report a patient who presented with catatonia as a presenting feature of WE. The objective of this report is to recognize the presentation of catatonia in WE. Some cases of WE are missed by physicians; therefore, a high index of suspicion and appropriate investigations depending on presentation and clinical condition can result in prompt diagnosis and early management.

Half a million bariatric procedures are performed annually worldwide. Our aim was to review the signs and symptoms of Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) after bariatric surgery. We included 118 WE cases. Descriptions involved gastric bypass (52%), but also newer procedures like the gastric sleeve. Bariatric WE patients were younger (median = 33 years) than those in a recent meta-analysis of medical procedures (mean = 39.5 years), and often presented with vomiting (87.3%), ataxia (84.7%), altered mental status (76.3%), and eye movement disorder (73.7%). Younger age seemed to protect against mental alterations and higher BMI against eye movement disorders. The WE treatment was often insufficient, specifically ignoring low parenteral thiamine levels (77.2%). In case of suspicion, thiamine levels should be tested and treated adequately with parenteral thiamine supplementation.

Background: Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) and Korsakoff syndrome (KS) are underdiagnosed. The DSM-5 has raised the diagnostic threshold by including KS in the major neurocognitive disorders, which requires that the patient needs help in everyday activities. Methods: We report clinical, neuropsychological, and radiological findings from a patient who developed Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome as a result of alcohol use and weight loss due to major depression. We assess the diagnosis in the context of the scientific literature on KS and according to the DSM-IV and the DSM-5. Results: The patient developed ataxia during a period of weight loss, thus fulfilling current diagnostic criteria of WE. WE was not diagnosed, but the patient partially improved after parenteral thiamine treatment. However, memory problems became evident, and KS was considered. In neuropsychological examination, the Logical Memory test and the Word List test were abnormal, but the Verbal Pair Associates test was normal (Wechsler Memory Scale-III). There were intrusions in the memory testing. The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was broadly impaired, but the other test of executive functions (difference between Trail Making B and Trail Making A tests) was normal. There was atrophy of the mammillary bodies, the thalamus, the cerebellum, and in the basal ganglia but not in the frontal lobes. Diffusion tensor imaging showed damage in several tracts, including the uncinate fasciculi, the cinguli, the fornix, and the corona radiata. The patient remained independent in everyday activities. The patient can be diagnosed with KS according to the DSM-IV. According to the DSM-5, the patient has major neurocognitive disorders. Conclusions: Extensive memory testing is essential in the assessment of KS. Patients with a history of WE and typical clinical, neuropsychological, and radiological KS findings may be independent in everyday activities. Strict use of the DSM-5 may worsen the problem of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome underdiagnosis by excluding clear KS cases that do not have very severe functional impairment.

Pharmacists' role in optimizing long-term pharmacotherapy for bariatric surgery patients is detailed.

Bariatric surgery patients provide a difficult challenge in terms of many pharmacotherapy issues, especially in the chronic care setting, where data on long-term effects of bariatric surgery are limited. The most common procedures are Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), adjustable gastric banding, and sleeve gastrectomy. Sleeve gastrectomy has become the most common procedure in the United States, primarily because it has less overall chronic malabsorption effects than RYGB. Pharmacotherapy management is complicated by rapid weight loss combined with a number of pharmacokinetic changes, such as decreased absorption of some medications due to altered gastrointestinal tract anatomy and potentially increased concentrations of some medications due to a decreased volume of distribution resulting from weight loss. Nutritional and metabolic supplementation are of the utmost importance in order to limit deficiencies that can lead to a number of conditions. Many chronic diseases, including hypertension, diabetes, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and urinary incontinence, are improved by bariatric surgery but require close monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of maintenance pharmacotherapy and avoidance of adverse effects. Psychotropic medication management is also an important pharmacotherapy concern, as evidenced by antidepressants being the most commonly used medication class among preoperative bariatric surgery patients.

Pharmacists have an increasing role in the chronic management of the bariatric surgery patient due to their knowledge of medication dosage forms and expertise in disease states affected by bariatric surgery.

In recent times, pediatric obesity has become widely prevalent. If first-line treatment with lifestyle modification fails, bariatric surgery may be indicated for severely obese patients. Many patients now travel abroad to get these surgeries done. Some of these patients receive inadequate postoperative care. We described a morbidly obese 17-year-old girl who had a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy procedure for weight loss. Due to severe nausea, she stopped her multivitamin supplementation. Within a few weeks, she developed symptoms of dry beriberi was soon followed by classic symptoms of Wernicke's encephalopathy. The prompt diagnosis was made with confirmation from serum thiamine level and brain magnetic resonance imaging. Thiamine supplementation reversed ophthalmological symptoms promptly. However, the patient needed inpatient rehabilitation for neuropathy. This case describes that thiamine deficiency can occur after restrictive bariatric surgery, despite lower risk of malnutrition in the absence of intestinal bypass procedure. This report highlights that in the presence of risk factors: dietary noncompliance, inadequate follow-up, and severe nausea with and without vomiting can precipitate the development of Wernicke's encephalopathy, even after restrictive surgery. Physicians may increasingly encounter thiamine and other nutrient deficiencies in increasing numbers due to increasing prevalence of obesity disorders and availability of bariatric surgeries. This report also emphasized the importance of identifying vague sensory symptoms in thiamine deficiency.

Obesity has become a major public health problem over the past two decades. Non-surgical management of obesity does not often achieve its long term goals. Surgical treatment is roaring in popularity because of dramatic and durable results. However, outcomes from bariatric surgery have become a significant area of scrutiny because it is also associated with several medical and psychological complications. Out of those complications, there are descriptions of neuropsychiatric disorders and psycho-behavioral symptoms after surgery. Meanwhile, few reports of acute psychosis are described but to our knowledge, our case is the first case report of primary mania following bariatric surgery. We present an unusual and challenging case of primary mania in a 57 year old female who underwent bariatric surgery two months ago. Patient responded well initially to antipsychotic followed by mood stabilizer.

Psychotic disorders and eating disorders sometimes occur in the same person, and sometimes, but not always, at the same time. This can cause diagnostic confusion and uncertainty about treatment. This paper examines seven ways in which symptoms of both conditions can co-exist. The literature on this topic consists to a large extent of case reports, so that firm conclusions cannot be drawn from their examination. There is no consistent sequence in the co-occurrence of the two conditions-eating disorders sometimes precede, and sometimes follow the onset of psychosis. The advent of the psychosis, and sometimes the treatment of the psychosis can cure the eating disorder, but it can sometimes aggravate it. Psychosis is not necessarily a mark of severity in the course of an eating disorder, and food refusal can occur independent of severity in psychotic illness, but it can be a cause of death. There is some genetic association and some overlap of physiologic, cognitive and brain structure deficits in the two types of disorder. The connection between the two, however, remains speculative. The area of comorbidity and overlapping symptoms in psychiatry requires more research. Clinical recommendations include attention to the different individual ways in which these two disparate conditions often overlap.

Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome (WKS) is a well described syndrome of neurological and cognitive problems that comprises both Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) and Korsakoff syndrome (KS). WE is an acute neuropsychiatric disorder caused by thiamine deficiency. KS is a chronic consequence of thiamine deficiency with prominent impairment in memory formation.

The authors review the literature on the pathophysiology, presentation, and treatment of WKS, focusing on the acute identification and treatment of WE.

Most cases of WE are missed by clinicians, likely because patients do not present with the classic signs associated with the condition. Attaining high serum levels of thiamine during treatment may be important to restore cognitive function as quickly as possible, though the exact dosing and route needed for effective treatment is unknown. Data indicates that the administration of intravenous (IV) thiamine has little risk.

In order to prevent this potentially devastating disease, physicians should have a high index of suspicion for WKS and dose thiamine accordingly.

As the rate of obesity and bariatric surgery rise, various psychosocial etiologies contributing to obesity are being explored, and it is not uncommon to discover that a patient has been a victim of past abuse.

A 37-year-old female was hospitalized for intractable nausea and vomiting following a laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass performed a month and a half prior. After ruling out all medical etiologies, psychiatry was consulted due to a history of panic attacks, and to evaluate for a psychosomatic etiology.

During the initial consultation, it was elicited that the patient had been the victim of a date rape as a teen, which resulted in dramatic weight gain and obesity. Following a comprehensive medical workup, brief psychodynamic psychotherapy, and the initiation of pharmacotherapy, the patient had a resolution of her symptoms, and at a 2 month follow-up, remained asymptomatic.

Prior to surgery, patients should be questioned about any history of abuse by utilizing a structured diagnostic questionnaire, such as the Weight and Lifestyle Inventory (WALI). To prevent minimization, individuals with a history of abuse should be screened more thoroughly, and psychiatric involvement should be an intrinsic component of the follow-up care as abused patients may also be more sensitive to complaints as they lose weight. Psychiatric involvement can be a useful adjunctive treatment while medical etiologies are being ruled out, rather than after they have been ruled out.

There is considerable evidence that neuroimaging findings can improve the early diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) in clinical settings. The most distinctive neuroimaging finding of acute WE are cytotoxic edema and vasogenic edema, which are represented by bilateral symmetric hyperintensity alterations on T2-weighted MR images in the periphery of the third ventricle, periaqueductal area, mammillary bodies and midbrain tectal plate. An initial bout of WE can result in Korsakoff's syndrome (KS), but repeated bouts in conjunction with its typical comorbidity, chronic alcoholism, can result in signs of tissue degeneration in vulnerable brain regions. Chronic abnormalities identified with neuroimaging enable examination of brain damage in living patients with KS and have expanded the understanding of the neuropsychological deficits resulting from thiamine deficiency, alcohol neurotoxicity, and their comorbidity. Brain structure and functional studies indicate that the interactions involving the thalamus, mammillary bodies, hippocampus, frontal lobes, and cerebellum are crucial for memory formation and executive functions, and the interruption of these circuits by WE and chronic alcoholism can contribute substantially to the neuropsychological deficits in KS.

Clinicians involved with nutrition therapy traditionally concentrated on macronutrients and have generally neglected the importance of micronutrients, both vitamins and trace elements. Micronutrients, which work in unison, are important for fundamental biological processes and enzymatic reactions, and deficiencies may lead to disastrous consequences. This review concentrates on vitamin B(1), or thiamine. Alcoholism is not the only risk factor for thiamine deficiency, and thiamine deficiency is often not suspected in seemingly well-nourished or even overnourished patients. Deficiency of thiamine has historically been described as beriberi but may often be seen in current-day practice, manifesting as neurologic abnormalities, mental changes, congestive heart failure, unexplained metabolic acidosis, and so on. This review explains the importance of thiamine in nutrition therapy and offers practical tips on prevention and management of deficiency states.

A 16-year-old girl was admitted to the emergency department because of acute changes in mental state such as paranoid and nihilistic delusions, confabulations, and distortions of body schema perception. Her history was compatible with anorexia nervosa in that she had lost more than 17 kg in weight over one and a half years. Her body mass index was 14. She was diagnosed with Wernicke Korsakoff's syndrome and was given intravenous thiamine at 250 mg/day. Response was dramatic for nystagmus and gait incoordination but not for other symptoms. After dosage was increased to 750 mg/day all symptoms including psychosis improved. With her increase in food consumption, secondary deterioration was observed and diagnosed as refeeding syndrome. After proper replacements she was completely normal in the 9th month, and her weight was 55 kg. This patient was interesting for the presenting symptoms (psychosis), and improvement by high doses of thiamine replacement, and also for refeeding syndrome during this period.

The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported that over 40% of the US population is overweight. The average weight loss attained by medical management programs is neither sufficient nor durable enough to treat medically complicated obesity. An estimated 220,000 bariatric procedures are performed yearly in the USA and Canada. The divided Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is performed most commonly in these countries and is considered the gold standard bariatric surgical procedure. The complexity of RYGB means that serious and potentially preventable perioperative complications can occur. RYGB alters the normal anatomy and physiology of the upper gut, which has predictable adverse effects and potential complications. Patients seek advice and care for symptoms that develop or persist after RYGB; although some symptoms are expected and predictable, others are complications that may or may not require active medical or surgical intervention. Physicians should be able to predict and manage most postoperative medical and nutritional disorders related to RYGB and should be prepared to assess patients for potential referral for surgical intervention or revision.

Optimal functioning of the central and peripheral nervous system is dependent on a constant supply of appropriate nutrients. The first section of this review discusses neurologic manifestations related to deficiency of key nutrients such as vitamin B(12), folate, copper, vitamin E, thiamine, and others. The second section addresses neurologic complications related to bariatric surgery. The third sections includes neurologic presentations caused by nutrient deficiencies in the setting of alcoholism. The concluding section addresses neurologic deficiency diseases that have a geographic predilection.

To review nutritional supplements commonly required after bariatric surgery to provide a practical guide and reference source for generalist healthcare providers.

A PubMed literature search (1988-July 2008) was conducted, using the search term nutritional deficiency after bariatric surgery, and was limited to English-language literature on adult (aged >19 y) human subjects. Additional references from the selected literature were also included.

Data were extracted from large clinical series and practice guidelines whenever possible. Case reports were used only when they were the sole information source.

Nutritional deficiencies that occur after bariatric surgery depend significantly on the type of surgery performed. Restrictive procedures such as gastric banding are the least likely to cause nutritional deficits, since none of the intestine is bypassed. Malabsorptive procedures such as biliopancreatic diversion or mixed restrictive/malabsorptive procedures (eg, Roux-en-Y gastric bypass) can result in serious nutritional problems when patients do not take required supplements after surgery. Vitamins and minerals that are commonly deficient in this circumstance include vitamin B(12), calcium, vitamin D, thiamine, folic acid, iron, zinc, and magnesium. Rare ocular complications have been reported with hypovitaminosis A.

Healthcare professionals, especially those who practice outside large bariatric centers, must be aware of the supplements required by patients who have had bariatric surgery. Many patients fail to follow up with the surgery centers and are managed by their primary care teams and community pharmacists, especially in the selection of multivitamin and nutritional supplements.

To review the clinical essentials of Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) after bariatric surgery.

An estimated 205,000 bariatric surgical procedures were performed in the United States in 2007. Such procedures may potentially lead to severe nutritional complications.

Literature searches were performed in Medline, Embase, and abstract collections. Inclusion criteria were WE after bariatric surgery, diagnosed by the presence of two or more of the following signs: mental status changes, eye movement abnormalities, cerebellar dysfunction, and dietary deficiency.

Of 104 reported cases of WE after bariatric surgery, 84 cases were included. Gastric bypass or a restrictive procedure had been performed in 80 cases (95%). Admission to hospital for WE occurred within 6 months of surgery in 79 cases (94%). Frequent vomiting was a risk factor in 76 cases (90%) and had lasted for a median of 21 days at admission. Intravenous glucose administration without thiamine was a risk factor in 15 cases (18%). Brain magnetic resonance imaging identified lesions characteristic of WE in 14 of 30 cases (47%). Incomplete recovery was observed in 41 cases (49%); memory deficits and gait difficulties were frequent sequela. The recent increase in the use of bariatric surgery in the United States was associated with an increase in reported WE cases.

The number of WE cases after bariatric surgery is substantially higher than previously reported. Surgeons, allied health providers, and patients need to be aware of the predisposing factors and symptoms to prevent and optimize the management of this condition.

Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE) is one of the potential complications of obesity surgery. It is an acute neuropsychiatric syndrome resulting from thiamine deficiency often associated with repeated vomiting. The classic triad is frequently reported in these patients (optic neuropathy, ataxia and confusion), associated with uncommon features. Cerebral impairment affects the dorsal medial nucleus of the thalamus and the periaqueductal grey area, appearing on MRI, as hyperintense signals on T2, Flair and Diffusion weighted imaging. Early diagnosis and parenteral thiamine are required to decrease morbidity and mortality. We report a case of WE and Korsakoff's syndrome in a young obese patient after subtotal gastrectomy, who still has substantial sequelae. The contribution of MRI with diffusion-weighted imaging is illustrated. The interest of nutritional supervision in the first weeks and preventive thiamine supplementation in case of repeated vomiting are of particular importance in these risky situations.

We report a case of Wernicke's encephalopathy after sleeve gastrectomy, which had been complicated by stomach wall edema and aggravated by dietary non-compliance. Despite intense parenteral nutrition, thiamine deficiency became clinically evident. It suggests that nutritional preparations used were unable to cover the increased thiamine requirement. After intense thiamine supplementation, gradual improvement occurred during the 6 months after the diagnosis, without permanent cognitive impairment. Clinicians involved in postoperative management of bariatric surgery patients must consider Wernicke's syndrome in hyper-emetic patients, who show unclear neurological deterioration. Early diagnosis and treatment can instantly improve the patient's condition without permanent sequelae.

Wernicke's encephalopathy is an acute neuropsychiatric syndrome resulting from thiamine deficiency, which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. According to autopsy-based studies, the disorder is still greatly underdiagnosed in both adults and children. In this review, we provide an update on the factors and clinical settings that predispose to Wernicke's encephalopathy, and discuss the most recent insights into epidemiology, pathophysiology, genetics, diagnosis, and treatment. To facilitate the diagnosis, we classify the common and rare symptoms at presentation and the late-stage symptoms. We emphasise the optimum dose of parenteral thiamine required for prophylaxis and treatment of Wernicke's encephalopathy and prevention of Korsakoff's syndrome associated with alcohol misuse. A systematic approach helps to ensure that patients receive a prompt diagnosis and adequate treatment.