Isolated Pulvinar/Hockey Stick Sign in Nonalcoholic Wernicke's Encephalopathy

Wernicke Encephalopathy After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass Presenting with Altered Mental Status-A Video Case Report

Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is a seldom encountered yet significant neuropsychiatric ailment resulting from a deficiency in thiamine (vitamin B1). While commonly linked with chronic alcoholism or insufficient dietary intake, instances of WE following bariatric and metabolic surgeries, notably laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB), have been sporadically documented. This case study elucidates the condition of a male patient who, 3 months after undergoing RYGB to address severe obesity, displayed abrupt alterations in mental status, swiftly ameliorated by immediate administration of intravenous high-dose thiamine.

“Bariatric Beriberi”: A Rare Case of Wernicke Encephalopathy Two Weeks After Laparoscopic Sleeve Gastrectomy

Wernicke encephalopathy (WE) is an acute neurological syndrome caused by thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency. This disorder manifests as a triad of gait ataxia, confusion, and vision abnormalities. The absence of a full triad does not rule out WE. Because of its vague presentation, WE is commonly missed in patients with no history of alcohol abuse. Other risk factors for WE include bariatric surgery, hemodialysis, hyperemesis gravidarum, and malabsorption syndromes. WE is a clinical diagnosis that can be confirmed with an MRI of the brain as hyperintensities in the mammillary bodies, periaqueductal area, thalami, and hippocampus. If suspected in a patient, WE must be immediately treated with intravenous thiamine to prevent evolution into Korsakoff syndrome, coma, or death. Currently, there is no consensus in the medical community as to how much thiamine must be given and for how long. Therefore, there is a need for more research in the diagnosis and management of WE after bariatric surgery. Herein, we report a rare case of a 23-year-old female with a history of morbid obesity who developed WE two weeks after a laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy.

Pulvinar Sign, Stroke and Their Relationship with Fabry Disease: A Systematic Review and Metanalysis

Background: Fabry disease (FD) is the second most common lysosomal storage disorder. This disorder affects multiple systems that include the cardiac, renal, and nervous system. The pulvinar sign (PS) is a relatively common sign seen in patients with FD. The PS is a bilateral, symmetrical pulvinar high signal relative to the signal intensity seen on unenhanced T1-weighted brain MR imaging. Methods: We conducted a systematic review with metanalysis to analyze the pool prevalence of the disorder. We used the Moose Guidelines and PRISMA Protocol for this systematic review and Robins 1 to access the BIAS of the study. To analyze the pool prevalence, we used “Open Meta-Analysis” software for analyzing the study. We used “Review Manager 5.4” to analyze the odds ratio between patients with and without the PS and patients with and without stroke among patients with FD. Results: We gather 12 studies from 2003 to 2021 for the analysis of this study. The pool prevalence of the study was 0.146 (0.076−0.217) (62/385 cases) with a 95% CI (0.0945−0.415) (p < 0.01). The prevalence was much higher in men (59 cases) than in women (3 cases). There was no relationship between the pulvinar sign and patients with stroke among patients with Fabry disease. Odds ratio 1.97 95% CI (0.35−11.21), p = 0.44; Tau2 = 0.77. There seems to be a correlation with renal failure (RF), but there were very few studies to conduct a metanalysis with RF. Conclusions: The prevalence of the PS among all studies was 23.9%; the prevalence of this sign is higher among males. We found that FD patients who had strokes did not have higher odds of presenting with the Pulvinar Sign than the FD patients who did not suffer a stroke. Patients with renal failure and FD seem to have a higher tendency to have the PS, but there were not enough studies to analyze that theory. Overall, we think the pulvinar sign has a poor prognostic value in patients with Fabry’s disease.