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Chronic Encephalopathies

  • Conference paper
Neurological Adverse Reactions to Anticancer Drugs

Part of the book series: ESO Monographs ((ESO MONOGRAPHS))

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Abstract

Acute encephalopathies causing confusion or even coma have been reported with different types of antineoplastic drugs. Mental changes occur during therapy and they usually cease when the drug is discontinued [1]. In contrast, some drugs cause a chronic encephalopathy characterised by a more subtle onset of personality change, drowsiness and seizures that may progress to dementia or coma. The syndrome is usually irreversible and appears weeks or months after the administration of the antineoplastic drug. However, the term “chronic” is misleading because symptoms can develop within days and, unlike the chronic delayed effects of RT, they may occur when the patient is still being treated with the drug. In this chapter, we will review those encephalopathies of subacute or chronic onset, which almost always follow an irreversible clinical course and occur during, or more often after, chemotherapy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Hospital Clinic i Provincial, Villarroel 170, 08036, Barcelona, Spain

    Francesc Graus

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  1. Francesc Graus
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Service de Neurologie, Hôpital Erasme Université Libre de Bruxelles, Route de Lennik, 808, 1070, Bruxelles, Belgium

    Jerzy Hildebrand

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© 1990 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Graus, F. (1990). Chronic Encephalopathies. In: Hildebrand, J. (eds) Neurological Adverse Reactions to Anticancer Drugs. ESO Monographs. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76142-3_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76142-3_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-76144-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-76142-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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