Abstract
A 49-year-old female who underwent chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin for uterocervical cancer fell into a coma on the third day of chemotherapy and remained comatose after cessetion of these agents. She was diagnosed as leukoencephalopathy with MRI and electrophysiological examinations, and consequently, anticancer agents were suspected. An anticancer agent, 5-FU often induces leukoencephalopathy usually following more than 2 weeks administration, when its blood concentration reaches toxic level. Co-administered diazepam to prevent emesis and vomiting might confuse the initial symptoms of leukoencephalopathy to develop it to irreversible level. Irreversibility is not usual for 5-FU induced neural injury. Characteristics of this case; i. e., early onset, irreversible neurological damage, and lower blood concentration of suspected drugs suggest that this is a severe and rare example of drug-induced leukoencephalopathy.
