• In Jeong Cho, Hye Jung Chang, Kyoung Eun Lee, Hye Sung Won, Moon Young Choi, Eun Mi Nam, Yeung-Chul Mun, Soon Nam Lee, and Chu-Myong Seong.
• Division of Hematology-Oncology, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.
• J. Korean Med. Sci. 2009 Aug 1; 24 (4): 747-50.

AbstractThe pyrimidine antimetabolite 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) is a chemotherapeutic agent used widely for various tumors. Common side effects of 5-FU are related to its effects on the bone marrow and gastrointestinal epithelium. Neurotoxicity caused by 5-FU is uncommon, although acute and delayed forms have been reported. Wernicke's encephalopathy is an acute, neuropsychiatric syndrome resulting from thiamine deficiency, and has significant morbidity and mortality. Central nervous system neurotoxicity such as Wernicke's encephalopathy following chemotherapy with 5-FU has been reported rarely, although it has been suggested that 5-FU can produce adverse neurological effects by causing thiamine deficiency. We report a patient with Wernicke's encephalopathy, reversible with thiamine therapy, associated with 5-FU-based chemotherapy.

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