Total Neuropathy Scale Pediatric Vincristine to detect vincristine induced peripheral neuropathy in children with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Objective: To analyze the Total Neuropathy Scale Pediatric Vincristine (TNS-PV) score as a vincristine induced peripheral neuropathy (VIPN) diagnostic tool. Methodology: This observational analytic study was conducted in Outpatient Pediatric Hematology Oncology Dr. Soetomo Hospital. The inclusion criteria were Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) children aged 4-18 years that had undergone chemotherapy treatment, received a cumulative dose of vincristine >12 mg/m2, had no muscle weakness and signed informed consent. The TNS-PV instrument were used to assess VIPN and nerve conduction studies (NCS) was used as the gold standard. Results: A total of 54 children were enrolled, two refused to sign the informed consent. About 60% were male children, 76.9% aged <10 years old, and 94% were ALL-L1. The TNS-PV had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.638 (95% CI 0.531-0.834) with cut off value of 3.5. It had a sensitivity 87.9%; specificity 42.1%, positive predictive value 72.5%; negative predictive value (NPV) 66.6% and OR (Odds ratio) 5,273. Conclusion: TNS-PV score cannot replace NCS as the gold standard, but TNS-PV can be an alternative tool for diagnosing VIPN.