Neurocognitive outcomes and radiological features in long-term survivors of paediatric brain tumours

Abstract

Abstract Purpose This article reports long-term neurocognitive disorders on survivor children of brain tumours, their predictive factors and their aspects in imaging. Methods We included 30 patients. Twenty-six patients underwent, prospectively, a neurocognitive assessment; and for 16 of them, we performed a comparative reading between pre- and post-treatment magnetic resonance imaging and/or cerebral tomodensitometry. We looked for cerebral atrophy, white matter lesions, and microvascular lesions. Results Medulloblastoma was the most frequent histological type. The median age at diagnosis was 10 years. Eighty five percent of patients had at least one cognitive deficit, and 52% had moderate to severe deficits. Significant predictors of cognitive deficits were a high dose of radiotherapy to the right hippocampus, low socioeconomic status, psychiatric history, mood disorders at evaluation, and scholar failure. In radiological study, 40% of patients had at least one focal lesion of the white brain matter and 43% had at least one microvascular lesion. Conclusion We, definitely, observed a high prevalence of neurocognitive deficits affecting all assessed cognitive domains concurrently to a high prevalence of white matter lesions and micro vascular lesions between patients treated for brain tumours at childhood. Although, it was a little series of patients, our results represent a strong proof that children with brain tumours are indifferently, at risk of developing neurocognitive impairments after treatment . Implications for Cancer Survivors We strongly, recommend continuous long term follow up, with regular cerebral imaging and regular neurocognitive assessment for brain tumor survivors.