Neurotoxic effects of cisplatin therapy.

Swelling of the optic disc and loss of tendon reflexes developed in a 3 1/2-year-old girl after 11 high-dose courses of cisplatin (cis-dichlorodiammine platinum [II]) therapy for recurrent sacrococcygeal teratoma. Postmortem examination demonstrated optic disc swelling; the spinal cord showed loss of myelinated fibers and gliosis of the dorsal columns. To our knowledge this case is the first in which the neuropathologic changes associated with cisplatin therapy have been demonstrated by postmortem examination.