Encephalopathy after Bendamustine Treatment: A Rare Side Effect?
  • Carolina Amado
    Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga, Aveiro, Portugal
  • Gisela Ferreira
    Hematology Department, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga, Aveiro, Portugal
  • Fernando Silva
    Hematology Department, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga, Aveiro, Portugal
  • Mariana Silva Leal
    Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga, Aveiro, Portugal
  • Margarida Cruz
    Internal Medicine Department, Centro Hospitalar do Baixo Vouga, Aveiro, Portugal

Keywords

Follicular lymphoma, bendamustine, rituximab, neurotoxicity, encephalopathy

Abstract

Bendamustine is a chemotherapeutic drug associated with frequent haematological and gastrointestinal adverse effects and, more rarely, neurological toxicity.
We present the case of a 79-year-old man with follicular lymphoma, grade 2, Ann-Arbor stage IV-A, FLIPI 4, high risk, with bulky disease and vital organ compression, treated with R-CHOP and then rituximab-bendamustine, who developed encephalopathy approximately 2 months after the last cycle. After ruling out other possible aetiologies, we assumed the patient’s encephalopathy was due to a delayed bendamustine side effect, possibly aggravated by the concomitant administration of rituximab.
The authors hope to alert clinicians to this rare adverse effect, its difficult identification and the need to rule out other aetiologies.

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    Published: 2020-11-03
    Issue: 2020: Vol 7 No 12 (view)

    How to cite:
    1.
    Amado C, Ferreira G, Silva F, Silva Leal M, Cruz M. Encephalopathy after Bendamustine Treatment: A Rare Side Effect?. EJCRIM 2020;7 doi:10.12890/2020_002010.

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