Cranial radiation in childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia. Neuropsychologic sequelae
J. K. Whitt, R. J. Wells, M. M. Lauria, C. L. Wilhelm and C. W. McMillan
A battery of neuropsychologic tests was administered "blindly" to 18
children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) who had been randomly
assigned to treatment regimens with or without cranial radiation. These
children were all in complete continuous remission for more than 3 1/2
years and were no longer receiving therapy. The results indicated no
substantial differences between groups as a function of radiation therapy.
However, decreased neuropsychologic performance was found when the entire
sample was compared with population norms. These data do not support the
hypothesis that cranial radiation therapy is responsible for the
neuropsychologic sequelae seen in these survivors of ALL. Post hoc multiple
regression analysis indicated that parental education levels accounted for
more of the neuropsychologic variability seen in these children than other
factors such as age at diagnosis, type of therapy, or sex of child.
