Disruption of the Corticospinal Tract in Patients with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Case Series

Abstract

Three patients who exhibited hemiplegic symptoms on conventional brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), during maintenance treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, are reported. All patients exhibited unilateral motor weakness and poor hand function during chemotherapy. Conventional MRI revealed no definite abnormal lesions. However, in diffusion tensor tractography, the affected corticospinal tract on the contralateral side, consistently with clinical dysfunction, revealed disrupted integrity, decreased fractional anisotropy, and increased apparent diffusion coefficient compared to the results of the unaffected side or control participants. Control participants matched for age, sex, and duration from leukemia diagnosis, who underwent chemotherapy but had no motor impairments, exhibited preserved integrity of both corticospinal tracts. Diffusion tensor tractography can help evaluate patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia and neurological dysfunction.

Keywords

• acute lymphoblastic leukemia
• chemotherapy
• motor
• hemiplegia
• diffusion tensor
• corticospinal tract