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Updated: Dec 23, 2025
09:44
Neuro-rehabilitation Approach for Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss
Published on: January 25, 2016
19.7K
Wernicke's Encephalopathy Presenting as Sensorineural Hearing Loss.
Benjamin S H Bryant1, Paul D Ehrlichman1, David Hewson1
1Internal Medicine, Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, Winston-Salem, USA.
Cureus
|April 25, 2020
Summary
Sleeve gastrectomy can cause thiamine deficiency, leading to rare symptoms like hearing loss. Prompt diagnosis and thiamine treatment improved the patient's condition.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Bariatric Surgery
- Nutritional Science
Background:
- Sleeve gastrectomy is a common bariatric procedure.
- Nutritional deficiencies, including thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency, can occur post-surgery.
- Wernicke's encephalopathy is a known, albeit infrequent, complication of bariatric surgery.
Observation:
- A patient presented with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss two months after sleeve gastrectomy.
- Initial workup revealed elevated inflammatory markers, suggesting an autoimmune process.
- The patient's chief complaint was progressive hearing loss.
Findings:
- Low thiamine levels confirmed vitamin B1 deficiency.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings supported the diagnosis of Wernicke's encephalopathy.
- Hearing loss was identified as a rare presenting symptom of Wernicke's encephalopathy in this context.
Implications:
- Highlights the importance of considering Wernicke's encephalopathy in patients with hearing loss post-sleeve gastrectomy.
- Emphasizes the need for vigilant nutritional monitoring, particularly thiamine levels, after bariatric surgery.
- Early diagnosis and thiamine supplementation can reverse neurological deficits and improve patient outcomes.
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