MR imaging in nelarabine-induced myelopathy

Abstract

Nelarabine is one of the newer and novel drugs approved by the USA Food and Drug Administration for treatment of relapsed and resistant acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Although there are a few accounts of the neurologic toxicity of nelarabine in the oncological literature, it has never been discussed from a radiologic stand point to our knowledge. We describe a case of nelarabine-induced myelopathy and review the existing literature in an attempt to characterize the MRI features helpful in making an early diagnosis of this elusive entity.

Keywords: Dorsal column; Myelopathy; Nelarabine; Neurotoxicity; Spinal cord.