Letter to the Editor

Paraneoplastic Salt Dysgeusia

Authors: Mark A. Marinella, MD, FACP

Abstract

To the Editor:


Alterations in taste include absence of taste (ageusia), abnormal or unpleasant taste (dysgeusia), or craving of non-nutritive substances or various foodstuffs (pica); these alterations may result from a variety of disorders.1 Cancer patients may develop taste alteration due to chemotherapy or irradiation involving the head and neck. The persistent presence of dysgeusia with or without food intake may be related to many factors, but has been noted with underlying neoplasia on rare occasions.2 We report a patient with metastatic pancreatic cancer who complained of a persistent salty taste associated with all foods.

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References

1. Marinella MA. Tomatophagia and iron-deficiency anemia. N Engl J Med 1999;341:60–61.
 
2. Panayiotou H, Small SC, Hunter JH, et al. Sweet taste (dysgeusia). The first symptom of hyponatremia in small cell carcinoma of the lung. Arch Intern Med 1995;155:1325–1328.
 
3. Marinella MA. Addisonian crisis, in Frequently Overlooked Diagnoses in Acute Care. Philadelphia, Hanley and Belfus, 2003, pp 17–21.
 
4. Marinella MA. Headache and palpitations during urination, in Pocket Guide of 50 Unusual Symptoms. Malden, MA, Blackwell Publishing, 2002, pp 36–37.
 
5. Lemon CH, Katz DB. The neural processing of taste. BMC Neurosci 2007;8:S5–S13.