Transverse myelopathy occurring with intrathecal administration of methotrexate and cytarabine chemotherapy: A case report.
Paraplegia following spinal injury is a rare complication subsequent to the administration of intrathecal chemotherapy; however, it is also one of the rare clinical features of central nervous system leukemia (CNSL). Distinguishing between the two is extremely important. The present study reports the case of a 46-year-old man who was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and subsequently achieved remission in the blood and bone marrow following the initial course of chemotherapy. However, the patient developed a sudden onset of paraplegia and urinary retention due to spinal cord infiltration of leukemia cells following the administration of intrathecal methotrexate and cytarabine. The paraplegia was initially reversible. However, a few weeks later, the patient developed irreversible paraplegia due to a complication of the intrathecal administration of chemotherapy (methotrexate and cytarabine arabinoside). The patient gave up further treatment in May 2013 and succumbed to the disease in June 2013.
Department of Hematology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P.R. China.
Ying
Y
Pan
Department of Hematology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P.R. China.
Chunhuai
C
Wang
Department of Hematology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P.R. China.
Huiping
H
Wang
Department of Hematology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P.R. China.
Qianshan
Q
Tao
Department of Hematology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P.R. China.
Shudao
S
Xiong
Department of Hematology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P.R. China.
Zhimin
Z
Zhai
B-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia; chemotherapy; transverse myelopathy