1/8. Wernicke-korsakoff encephalopathy and polyneuropathy after gastroplasty for morbid obesity: report of a case.BACKGROUND: Gastric partitioning is a surgical procedure for the treatment of morbid obesity that may engender neurological complications, such as wernicke encephalopathy and polyneuropathy. SETTING: A specialist hospital. PATIENT: A 36-year-old woman developed Wernicke-Korsakoff encephalopathy and polyneuropathy 3 months after gastroplasty for morbid obesity. A magnetic resonance scan documented the diagnosis, and a clear improvement occurred after parenteral thiamine treatment. In our patient and in previously described cases of the literature, postsurgical vomiting is a constant finding that seems to be the precipitating factor of neurological complications of gastric partitioning. CONCLUSION: Persistent vomiting after gastroplasty for morbid obesity should be considered an alarming symptom to treat immediately with appropriate measures.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 1keywords = korsakoff (Clic here for more details about this article) |
2/8. An atypical neuropsychological profile of a korsakoff syndrome patient throughout the follow-up.The basis of amnesia in alcoholic Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome (WKS) has been generally associated with diencephalic lesions and more specifically with lesions of the anterior thalamic nuclei. These brain structures are considered to be involved in encoding/consolidation processes of episodic memory. However, frontal lobe damage responsible for executive function deficits has also been documented. The present report details the nature and extent of amnesia in an alcoholic patients with WKS and which appears to be mainly due to frontal lobe (executive) deficits.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.0011078432795434keywords = alcoholic, alcohol (Clic here for more details about this article) |
3/8. A case of Korsakoff's syndrome improved by high doses of donepezil.We present a case of Korsakoff's syndrome that was successfully treated with high doses of donepezil, an inhibitor of acetylcholine esterase, known to retard the progress of symptoms in Alzheimer's disease. The patient was a 46-year-old married Japanese woman who began to drink alcohol after she married. After several years of drinking she developed typical symptoms of the korsakoff syndrome. Donepezil was started after treatment with thiamine or thiamine plus fluvoxamine had failed. Her amnestic symptoms as well as her quality of life improved markedly during donepezil treatment. Inhibition of acetylcholine esterase may be an effective treatment for Korsakoff's syndrome.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.34088005275133keywords = amnestic, alcohol (Clic here for more details about this article) |
4/8. Primary CNS lymphoma as a cause of korsakoff syndrome.BACKGROUND: korsakoff syndrome presents with memory dysfunction with retrograde amnesia, anterograde amnesia, limited insight into dysfunction, and confabulation. The most common etiology of korsakoff syndrome is thiamine deficiency secondary to alcoholism. There are limited case reports of structural lesions causing korsakoff syndrome. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 46-year-old male with a long history of alcoholism presented with a history of confusion, amnesia, and confabulation with no localizing features on neurological examination. The patient showed no clinical change with intravenous thiamine. Computed tomography of the brain revealed a heterogenous, enhancing mass lesion centered within the third ventricle, with other lesions found throughout cortical and subcortical regions. The patient was given dexamethasone i.v. without noticeable clinical improvement but with marked radiological improvement with mass reduction. Stereotactic biopsy revealed a diagnosis of primary central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma. CONCLUSIONS: Most patients presenting with korsakoff syndrome have thiamine deficiency; however, mass lesions can produce an identical clinical picture. This is the first case report of a patient with primary CNS lymphoma presenting as korsakoff syndrome.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.00013121443317514keywords = alcohol (Clic here for more details about this article) |
5/8. Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome following small bowel obstruction.We report a case of a 64-year-old lady who developed clinical features of Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome following a laparotomy for small bowel obstruction. Following the operation she developed paralytic ileus and required total parenteral nutrition for one month. A suspected history of average 40 units of weekly alcohol consumption prior to the operation could not be confirmed and the patient did not show any sign of alcohol dependence. Within a few months of treatment with a daily oral dose of thiamine 200 mgs supplemented by multivitamins the patient showed subjective evidence of improvement in confusion, confabulation, and anterograde amnesia, although objective tests showed residual deficits in many areas of cognitive functioning, including immediate and delayed recall of verbal and non-verbal materials, planning and switching of attention.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.00013121443317514keywords = alcohol (Clic here for more details about this article) |
6/8. Persistence of disturbed thalamic glucose metabolism in a case of Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome.We report the case of a 40-year-old alcoholic male patient, hospitalized with an acute ataxia of stance and gait, ocular muscle weakness with nystagmus and a global apathetic-confusional state. After admission, an amnestic syndrome with confabulation was also observed and diagnosis of Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome was made. Under treatment with intravenous thiamine, the patient recovered completely from gaze weakness and ataxia, whereas a severe amnestic syndrome persisted. Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) showed bilateral thalamic and severe bilateral temporal-parietal hypometabolism resembling a pattern typical for Alzheimer's disease. Longitudinal assessment of the alcohol-abstinent and thiamine-substituted patient revealed improvements of clinical state and neuropsychological performance that were paralleled by recovered cerebral glucose metabolism. In contrast to metabolic rates that increased between 7.1% (anterior cingulate, left) and 23.5% (parietal, left) in cortical areas during a 9-month remission period, thalamic glucose metabolism remained severely disturbed over time (change: left 0.2%, right 0.3%).- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 6.2246920368364keywords = amnestic syndrome, amnestic, alcoholic, alcohol (Clic here for more details about this article) |
7/8. Increased cerebellar PET glucose metabolism corresponds to ataxia in Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome.AIMS: To investigate a possible relationship between cerebellar glucose metabolism and recovery from ataxia in the first months of acute Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome. methods: Two cases of alcoholic Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome were followed up with the clinical status and cerebral glucose metabolism over a 4- and 9-month period. RESULTS: Initially both patients showed severe ataxia and elevated cerebellar glucose metabolism that decreased corresponding to the restitution of stance and gait. CONCLUSION: Increased cerebellar glucose metabolism at the onset of the illness may reflect the reorganization process of disturbed motor skills and may indicate cerebellar plasticity.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.00055392163977172keywords = alcoholic, alcohol (Clic here for more details about this article) |
8/8. The cost of living in purgatory's shadow.A 40-year-old alcoholic man developed Wernicke-korsakoff syndrome. His examination showed ophthalmoplegia, ataxia and memory difficulties. His cranial magnetic resonance imaging scan showed increased signal in the paraventricular regions of the thalamus on T-2 weighted, diffusion and axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery sequences consistent with the syndrome. The ophthalmoplegia resolved with thiamine administration; however, his memory did not improve.- - - - - - - - - - ranking = 0.00055392163977172keywords = alcoholic, alcohol (Clic here for more details about this article) |