Peripheral neuropathy and ophthalmologic toxicity after treatment with cis-dichlorodiaminoplatinum II.

A 57-year-old woman with inoperable bladder cancer received radiation treatment. Thirteen years later she relapsed at locoregional, retroperitoneal, and mediastinal sites. During treatment with cis-dichlorodiamineplatinum II (DDP) (30 mg/day for 5 days repeated every 4 weeks) she achieved a partial remission. After seven courses of DDP-chemotherapy she complained of numbness of her hands and legs and of diminished visual acuity of both eyes. After 4 weeks these symptoms grew less but intensified severely after another DDP-treatment. The temporal relationship of neurologic symptoms and their intensification by the last administration of DDP suggest this drug to be the causative agent for peripheral neuropathy and ophthalmologic toxicity.