Amphotericin B-induced myelopathy

Abstract

Two patients with coccidioidal meningitis experienced transient neurologic deficits shortly after receiving intrathecal injections of amphotericin B. Continuation of treatment eventually led to a severe flaccid paraparesis with a thoracic sensory level in 1 patient, and a partial Brown-Sequard''s syndrome in the other. Myelography was normal in both, with no evidence of arachnoiditis. Autopsy findings in the 1st patient showed a focal area of necrosis in the left half of the spinal cord consistent with the patient''s clinical findings during life. The distribution of the lesion corresponded to the area supplied by a central sulcal artery. Amphotericin B may exert a direct toxic effect on the spinal cord or its vascular supply when given intrathecally.