Peripheral neuropathy as a complication of cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) treatment: a case report

A 19-year-old woman with a diagnosis of osteosarcoma was initially treated with amputation of her right leg and adjuvant adriamycin. She developed pulmonary metastases 18 months following diagnosis. She was then given cis-dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) (DDP) at a dose of 100 mg/m2 iv approximately every 4 weeks as the sole drug. Following the fifth dose of DDP, she complained of numbness and tingling in her hands and leg. A distal sensory loss extending to both elbows and her remaining knee was found on examination. Nerve conduction tests were compatible with peripheral neuropathy of the "glove and stocking" type. DDP was withheld and her sensory loss improved over the next 2 months, but became worse after another course of DDP was administered. The temporal relationship between the findings and the administration of DDP implicates this drug as the causative agent in the peripheral neuropathy.