The rate and treatment outcome of thiamine deficiency in cancer patients diagnosed with delirium: A preliminary study.

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205 Background: Vitamin B1 is essential for life, but cannot be synthesized in vivo and must be ingested from outside the body. Retention in the body is as short as 18 days, so that long-term appetite loss can easily lead to vitamin B1 deficiency, resulting in a condition known as Wernicke's encephalopathy (WE), which is characterized by disturbed consciousness, ataxia, and ocular movement disorders. Early detection and treatment with intravenous vitamin B1 usually results in recovery without sequelae, while a delay in detection can lead to severe brain damage (Korsakoff syndrome). The mortality rate is approximately 20%. Recent studies have shown that cancer patients may also experience thiamine deficiency and WE. WE is often overlooked as the typical symptoms are nonspecific, and some cases do not exhibit the disturbed consciousness characteristic of WE. Clinical awareness can be improved by confirming the actual rate and clarifying the associated symptoms, leading to more accurate WE diagnosis. Methods: We retrospectively examined the medical records for patients admitted to Saitama Medical University International Medical Center between 1 October 2014 and 31 May 2018 with cancer as the main disease who consulted the Psycho-oncology Department and were diagnosed with delirium by a psychiatrist. Patient background, medical treatment, neurological symptoms, blood biochemical findings, and disease course after vitamin B1 administration were examined. This study was approved by the IRB of this institution (Approval No. 18-080). Results: Eligibility criteria were met by 76 of 126 patients who received consultations during the study period, with 32 (43%) having a vitamin B1 deficiency. Vitamin B1 treatment led to a full recovery in 19 (59%) of these 32 patients. Conclusions: Our results show that the rate vitamin B1 deficiency in patients in this study was high, although >50% of the affected patients recovered with treatment. This indicated that it is necessary to pay close attention to vitamin B1 deficiency in cancer patients with psychiatric symptoms, and future study is planned to clarify the factors involved in the onset of vitamin B1 deficiency.