ISSN:
1432-1920
Keywords:
Acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
;
Magnetic resonance imaging
;
Brain, children
;
Leukoencephalopathy
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Abstract Cranial MRI was used to study treatment-related changes in children undergoing therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) or lymphoma. Nineteen children (18 with ALL, 1 with lymphoma) underwent MRI at the beginning of treatment and at intervals during it, to a total of 105 imaging studies and a minimum of 3 per case. Nine patients had finished all therapy, all received consolidation treatment. No patient had central nervous system (CNS) leukaemia at diagnosis or developed a CNS relapse. Mild treatment-related white matter changes were observed in only 2 patients after consolidation therapy with three 5 g/m2 pulses of intravenous methotrexate. Transient enlargement of the ventricles and cortical sulci was observed in 13 patients, always temporally related to steroid treatment. These preliminary data suggest that treatment-related white matter changes are rare and no routine MRI follow-up is needed during treatment in asymptomatic children after a baseline assessment.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00596544
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