Reversible neurological symptoms caused by vitamin E deficiency in a patient with short bowel syndrome.

The effect of vitamin E deprivation on the fully developed human nervous system is not known. In children with fat malabsorption from various causes neuropathological and neurological changes have been ascribed to vitamin E deficiency. Herein we described a neurological deficit that occurred in a 64-yr-old man with chronic steatorrhea leading to severe vitamin E deficiency. long-term supplementation with vitamin E resulted in clinical improvement beginning a few months after normalization of his vitamin E status.