Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome after bariatric surgery: a clinical case

Wernicke-Korsakoff encephalopathy is difficult to diagnose an urgent condition, caused by a deficiency of vitamin B₁ (thiamine). The main reason for the development of the disease is chronic alcoholism. Non-alcoholic causes of Wernicke-Korsakoff encephalopathy include acquired immune deficiency syndrome, malnutrition, pathology of the gastrointestinal tract and surgical interventions on it, multiple organ failure, program hemodialysis, long-term treatment with furosemide, etc. In Russia, the number of bariatric surgeries is increasing annually; therefore, not only neurologists, but also physicians of other specialties are increasingly likely to encounter this pathology in clinical practice. It must be remembered that neurological disorders after bariatric surgery due to vitamin deficiency may be of an erased nature, and diagnostic tools that allow timely recognition of encephalopathy are far from perfect. All of the above determines the need to conduct new experimental and clinical studies in this area of neurology. In order to raise awareness and improve clinicians' professional knowledge of the gastroenterologic causes of vitamin B₁ deficiency, this article presents a clinical case of Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome that developed after bariatric surgery.