A number of patients present to the emergency department (ED) with complaints of peripheral
neuropathy. This case report highlights on an underrecognized etiology of progressive
neuropathy in a woman who presented to our ED. Clinical signs, symptoms, as well as
a high index of suspicion suggested copper deficiency. Hypocupremia manifests itself
as a debilitating peripheral sensory and motor neuropathy, anemia, leukopenia, and
abnormal red blood cell morphologies on a peripheral blood smear. Significant risk
factors for the development of this illness include Roux-en-Y gastric bypass; excess
zinc supplementation; and, in some instances, postmenopausal females. The article
reviews pertinent literature.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 16, 2015
Accepted:
June 13,
2015
Received:
June 4,
2015
Footnotes
☆Conflicts of interest: No conflicts of interest, meetings, or grants to acknowledge.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
