Acute neurological presentation due to copper deficiency in a hemodialysis patient following gastric bypass surgery

Abstract

Acquired copper deficiency has been recently recognized as a cause of myelopathy, and has been reported to occur many years after gastric bypass surgery performed to aid weight reduction in morbidly obese patients. We report a case of a young woman treated by hemodialysis who presented with acute neurological symptoms 5 months after gastric bypass surgery for severe obesity. She had symptoms and signs of cerebellar, spinal cord and peripheral nerve disease, which improved following parenteral copper supplementation. Now that gastric bypass surgery is being offered to morbidly obese hemodialysis patients, this case highlights the importance of monitoring copper levels in hemodialysis patients following gastric bypass surgery.