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Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect
CASE REPORT
Gemcitabine-induced chronic systemic capillary leak syndrome
  1. Ravneet Bajwa,
  2. Jason Starr,
  3. Karen Daily
  1. Division of Hematology and Oncology, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
  1. Correspondence to Dr Ravneet Bajwa, ravneet.bajwa{at}medicine.ufl.edu

Summary

A 56-year-old woman presented with anasarca, hypoalbuminaemia and hypotension following cycle 3 day 1 of adjuvant gemcitabine for stage II pancreatic cancer. Due to the temporal nature of presentation, suspicion for gemcitabine-induced capillary leak syndrome was included in the differential diagnosis. Vascular endothelial growth factor levels were elevated at 707 pg/mL (reference range: 9–86 pg/mL). Corticosteroids were initiated, resulting in complete resolution of symptoms and hypotension. The patient suffered relapse of symptoms on discontinuation of steroids, further supporting chronic capillary leak syndrome.

  • pancreatic cancer
  • contraindications and precautions
  • unwanted effects / adverse reactions

This is an Open Access article 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/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2017-221068

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors RB contributed to writing and drafting the case report, gathering all information and getting informed consent from the patient's family. KD and JS provided critical revisions and added intellectual content.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent Obtained from guardian.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.