Abstract
A young patient with hepatocellular carcinoma receiving chemotherapy presented with encephalopathy. Evaluation of the patient revealed a metabolic profile consistent with ornithine transcarbamoylase (OTC) deficiency, an inherited disorder of the urea cycle. The evaluation yielded a plasma amino acid analysis consistent with OTC deficiency. However, genetic analysis did not reveal a somatic mutation of the OTC gene in this patient. The hyperammonemic encephalopathy was reversed by the infusion of arginine, a common treatment for hereditary OTC deficiency. This case may represent a distinct syndrome of reversible hyperammonemia in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 543-545 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Southern medical journal |
Volume | 101 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2008 |
Keywords
- Chemotherapy
- Hepatocellular carcinoma
- Hyperammonemia
- Ornithine transcarbamoylase deficiency
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Medicine