Mucocutaneous complications of chemotherapy in 74 patients from Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai Hospital.
BACKGROUND
There have been many reports about mucocutaneous complications of chemotherapy from western countries, but they are only small case series. Until now, there had been no such report in Thailand.


OBJECTIVE
We assessed mucocutaneous complications in patients who received chemotherapy.


METHODS
A total of 74 patients, admitted for chemotherapy from October 2001 to January 2002 in the Internal Medicine Department, Maharaj Nakhon Chiang Mai Hospital, were studied.


RESULTS
Of 74 patients (53 male and 21 female), we found a statistically significant relation between gemcitabine and alopecia (p = .020), bleomycin and hyperpigmentation (p = .030), and cytarabine and ichthyosis (< .001). The most common findings were alopecia (76.68%), hyperpigmentation (31.08%), transverse white bands of the nails (22.97%), and ichthyosis (20.27%). Other notable findings included oral mucositis, acne, acral erythema, flushing, onycholysis, urticaria, pruritus, phlebitis and cutaneous infections (including tinea corporis, tinea ungium, and warts).


CONCLUSIONS
Mucocutaneous complications are common in patients who have received chemotherapy. However, a further study with a larger sample size and specified chemotherapy regimen would be valuable.
Chiewchanvit
Siri
S
Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. schiewch@mail.med.cmu.ac.th
Noppakun
Khajornsakdi
K
Kanchanarattanakorn
Kittika
K
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009092:Mucous Membrane; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced*; D013785:Thailand
D000970:Antineoplastic Agents