Breeching “The Goldilocks Zone”: Tetraplegia as a Rare Life-Altering Infective Complication of Adjuvant Breast Cancer Chemotherapy

Abstract

Background: Adjuvant chemotherapy has been an integral component of breast cancer care for decades. Advances in supportive care have been made, but despite this, infective complications of therapy remain a significant toxicity concern. Case Presentation: A premenopausal patient presented to the emergency department during the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic with sepsis after a second course of adjuvant docetaxel-cyclophosphamide chemotherapy. Overnight she developed tetraplegia. An urgent MRI cervical spine revealed a pre-vertebral, vertebral, and epidural abscess. This was treated with an emergency C4-C7 posterior cervical laminectomy and decompression. Her inpatient care involved a protracted ICU admission followed by rehabilitation. She remains tetraplegic and requires continued inpatient care over a year after presentation. Restricted pandemic-related hospital visiting has compounded the impact of her illness. Conclusion: Infective complications of adjuvant breast cancer chemotherapy remain an issue despite advances in supportive care. This case highlights the devastating, life-altering impact that these complications can have as emphasized by the inclusion of the patient’s perspective.