Ma YY, He XC, Gao Y, Ma TT, Cheng G, Yue CW. Treatment of nasopharyngeal carcinoma and prevention of non-alcoholic Wernicke’s disease: A case report and review of literature. World J Clin Cases 2024; 12(24): 5628-5635 [PMID: PMC11269984 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v12.i24.5628]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Chang-Wu Yue, PhD, Professor, Yan’an Key Laboratory of Microbial Drug Innovation and Transformation, School of Basic Medicine, Yan’an University, No. 580 Shengdi Road, Baota District, Yan’an 716000, Shaanxi Province, China.changwuyue@yau.edu.cn
Research Domain of This Article
Neurosciences
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Yu-Yang Ma, Yu Gao, Chang-Wu Yue, Yan’an Key Laboratory of Microbial Drug Innovation and Transformation, School of Basic Medicine, Yan’an University, Yan’an 716000, Shaanxi Province, China
Yu-Yang Ma, Tian-Tian Ma, Gong Cheng, Department of Cardiology, Second Division, Shaanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Xi’an 710000, Shaanxi Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Gong Cheng and Chang-Wu Yue.
Author contributions: Ma YY and He XC contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-first authors. Ma YY acquired and analysed the work, drafted the manuscript, and collected and analysed the images; He XC, Gao Y, and Ma TT edited the manuscript; Cheng G and Yue CW wrote, proofread, and edited the manuscript, they contributed equally to this work and should be considered co-corresponding author; all authors have met the authorship requirements for the submitted version and have agreed to its submission.
Informed consent statement: The patient consented to treatment and provided written consent for publication of this study. we have de-identified the information regarding the patients that is included in the article.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: Https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chang-Wu Yue, PhD, Professor, Yan’an Key Laboratory of Microbial Drug Innovation and Transformation, School of Basic Medicine, Yan’an University, No. 580 Shengdi Road, Baota District, Yan’an 716000, Shaanxi Province, China.changwuyue@yau.edu.cn
Received: May 9, 2024 Revised: June 20, 2024 Accepted: July 2, 2024 Published online: August 26, 2024 Processing time: 62 Days and 20.5 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Wernicke encephalopathy is a neurological disorder caused by thiamine deficiency, commonly seen in alcoholic populations but also involving other circumstances that may lead to thiamine deficiency. The recognition of Wernicke encephalopathy often depends on clinicians’ keen ability to detect its typical triad of features; however, most cases do not present with the full constellation of signs, which complicates the timely identification of Wernicke encephalopathy.
CASE SUMMARY
This case report describes a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma who developed abnormal ocular function and ataxia following concurrent chemoradiotherapy, without a history of alcohol abuse. With the aid of radiological examinations, he received a timely diagnosis and treatment; however, his symptoms did not fully resolve during follow-up.
CONCLUSION
For patients with malignant tumors exhibiting neurological symptoms, clinicians should consider the possibility of Wernicke encephalopathy and provide prophylactic thiamine therapy.
Core Tip: Following concurrent chemoradiotherapy in a patient with nasopharyngeal carcinoma, we diagnosed a case of Wernicke’s encephalopathy. This article further outlines the current diagnostic techniques for Wernicke encephalopathy and the latest advancements in retrospective studies related to Wernicke encephalopathy. This finding provides a new perspective for research on the diagnosis and preventive measures of Wernicke encephalopathy associated with head and neck malignancies.
