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Minor changes on cranial MRI during treatment in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia

  • Paediatric Neuroradiology
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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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, University of Oulu, Kajaanintie 50, FIN-90220, Oulu, Finland

    E. Pääkkö & J. Pyhtinen

  2. Department of Paediatrics, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland

    L. Vainionpää & M. Lanning

Authors
  1. E. Pääkkö
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  2. L. Vainionpää
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  3. J. Pyhtinen
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  4. M. Lanning
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Pääkkö, E., Vainionpää, L., Pyhtinen, J. et al. Minor changes on cranial MRI during treatment in children with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Neuroradiology 38, 264–268 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00596544

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00596544

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