Weight-loss surgery may also cause memory loss and other serious neurologic problems in a small number of patients.
At least 32 cases of Wernicke's encephalopathy -- a syndrome caused by thiamine deficiency and marked by acute mental confusion, apathy, drowsiness, ataxia, and oculomotor abnormalities -- have been reported in the medical literature in patients who underwent bariatric surgery, found Sonal Singh, M.D., of Wake-Forest University here, and Abhay Kumar, M.D., of the University of Iowa in Iowa City.
A few of the patients suffered persistent memory loss and motor problems, the investigators reported in the March 13 issue of Neurology.
Werrnicke's encephalopathy, first described in 1881 by Polish neurologist Carl Wernicke, M.D., is frequently seen among alcoholics, those with nutritional deficiency states, AIDS patients, and people who are on long-term hemodialysis, but its incidence in bariatric surgery patients had been unknown.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Neurology/GeneralNeurology/dh/5236
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