Role of thiamine in managing ifosfamide-induced encephalopathy. J Oncol Pharm Pract 2006 Dec;12(4):237-9
Date
12/13/2006Pubmed ID
17156595DOI
10.1177/1078155206073553Scopus ID
2-s2.0-33846208731 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 45 CitationsAbstract
Encephalopathy is a well known side effect of ifosfamide, developing in approximately 10-30% of patients exposed to the drug. It is generally reversible after discontinuing the therapy; however cases of fatal neurotoxicity have been reported. Methylene blue is commonly used in the treatment and prophylaxis of ifosfamide induced encephalopathy; however its efficacy is moderate at best. We report here the utility of thiamine in both treating and preventing ifosfamide induced neurotoxicity in three patients. With the use of intravenous thiamine encephalopathy resolved in all of our patients within a mean time of 17 hours (range 10-30 hours). In three cycles where thiamine was used as prophylaxis no evidence of ifosfamide induced encephalopathy was seen. Thiamine appears to be a safe and effective treatment for reversing encephalopathy resulting form ifosfamide infusion, without any significant side effects.
Author List
Hamadani M, Awan FAuthor
Mehdi Hamadani MBBS Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultAged
Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating
Female
Humans
Ifosfamide
Male
Middle Aged
Neurotoxicity Syndromes
Thiamine
Treatment Outcome
Vitamin B Complex
