Transverse myelopathy occurring with intrathecal administration of methotrexate and cytarabine chemotherapy: A case report

Pan,Ying; Wang,Chunhuai; Wang,Huiping; Tao,Qianshan; Xiong,Shudao; Zhai,Zhimin

doi:10.3892/ol.2016.4519

Transverse myelopathy occurring with intrathecal administration of methotrexate and cytarabine chemotherapy: A case report

Authors:
- Ying Pan
- Chunhuai Wang
- Huiping Wang
- Qianshan Tao
- Shudao Xiong
- Zhimin Zhai
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Affiliations: Department of Hematology, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, P.R. China
Published online on: May 4, 2016 https://doi.org/10.3892/ol.2016.4519
Pages: 4066-4068

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Abstract

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.

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