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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2020; 30(02): 214-217
DOI: 10.4103/ijri.IJRI_17_19
Case Report

A unique presentation of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) induced cerebral encephalopathy

Authors

  • Shailendra S Naik

    Departments of Radiodiagnosis, IRCH, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

  • Ilavarasi Vanidassane

    Departments of Medical Oncology, IRCH, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

  • Ekta Dhamija

    Departments of Radiodiagnosis, IRCH, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

  • Atul Sharma

    Departments of Medical Oncology, IRCH, AIIMS, New Delhi, India

Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU), a commonly used antimetabolite and antineoplastic agent, has been approved for the treatment of various cancers. It is associated with systemic side-effects such as gastrointestinal problems, neutropenia. 5-FU-related encephalopathy is very rarely reported. Imaging with computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) plays a key role in diagnosing and monitoring the changes. Since the prognosis of cerebral involvement is usually good if recognized and treated in time, the reporting radiologist and treating physician should be familiar with them. We present a rare case of 5-FU-induced encephalopathy that was diagnosed based on her clinical and MRI findings and managed successfully.

Keywords

Chemotherapy - drug-induced encephalopathy - encephalopathy - 5-fluorouracil


Publication History

Received: 17 January 2019

Accepted: 08 April 2020

Article published online:
19 July 2021

© 2020. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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