Outpatient Carboplatin Desensitization in a Pediatric Patient with Bilateral Optic Glioma

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

To report a case of successful outpatient carboplatin desensitization in a pediatric patient with bilateral optic glioma.

CASE SUMMARY:

A 10-year-old white girl with bilateral optic glioma developed a hypersensitivity reaction to carboplatin after nine courses. She had received 18 courses six years earlier without incident. A desensitization regimen was administered, and she has tolerated all subsequent courses of carboplatin therapy.

DISCUSSION:

Carboplatin is an important chemotherapeutic agent in the treatment of a variety of pediatric brain tumors. It is usually given in an outpatient setting. Hypersensitivity to this agent appears to develop after frequent exposure such as with the once-weekly regimens often used to treat brain tumors in pediatric patients.

CONCLUSIONS:

Carboplatin desensitization can be successfully performed on an outpatient basis with close observation and cardiorespiratory monitoring. This regimen could prove useful for other patients who develop hypersensitivity reactions to carboplatin and allow therapy to continue.