Symptomatic hyponatraemia caused by cylophosphamide.
BACKGROUND
Acute hyponatraemia after administration of alkylating agents such as cyclophosphamide or ifosfamide has been documented as an infrequent but life-threatening complication.


METHODS
A 69-year-old female patient with metastatic adenocarcinoma of the salivary glands presented with severe symptomatic hyponatraemia (nadir 112 mmol/l) after chemotherapy with cyclophosphamide, cisplatin, and doxorubicin. Serum sodium was carefully corrected at the intensive care unit. The patient recovered completely from her neurological symptoms within a couple of days. A literature review showed only few cases with cyclophosphamide-induced acute hyponatraemia, and to our knowledge this is the first case where hyponatraemia was seen with a dose of only 500 mg/m(2) of cyclophosphamide.


CONCLUSIONS
Oncologists should be aware of cyclophosphamide-induced acute hyponatraemia as a rare but life-threatening side-effect, especially since its clinical features may mimic those of chemotherapy-induced nausea.
Nationales Centrum fur Tumorerkrankungen, Universitatsklinikum Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 350, Heidelberg, Germany.
Anne Katrin
AK
Berger
Frauke
F
Bellos
Annika
A
Siegmund
Christoph
C
Eisenbach
Florian
F
Lordick
D000368:Aged; D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating / Q000009:adverse effects; D003520:Cyclophosphamide / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007010:Hyponatremia / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis*
D018906:Antineoplastic Agents, Alkylating; D003520:Cyclophosphamide