1043-3155 Pediatr Neurol Briefs pedneurbriefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs Pediatric Neurology Briefs Pediatr Neurol Briefs 2166-6482 1043-3155 2166-3155 Pediatric Neurology Briefs Publishers Chicago, IL, USA PNB-6-94 10.15844/pedneurbriefs-6-12-9 Brain Neoplasms Neurology Pediatrics Nervous System Diseases Child Development Brain Diseases Neurosurgery Child Infant Long-Term Neurologic Problems with Medulloblastoma http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0173-7931 Millichap J. Gordon MD 1 2 * Division of Neurology, Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL Departments of Pediatrics and Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL Correspondence: Dr. J. Gordon Millichap, E-mail: jgmillichap@northwestern.edu 12 1992 01 07 2016 6 12 94 94 Copyright: © 1992 The Author(s) 1992 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Long-term neurologic problems of children treated with medulloblastoma

All 11 children who presented since 1976 in Cardiff, Wales with medulloblastoma and who had survived at least 5 years were reviewed neurologically.

 Medulloblastoma Cerebellar Ataxia Dyspraxia

All 11 children who presented since 1976 in Cardiff, Wales with medulloblastoma and who had survived at least 5 years were reviewed neurologically. Current ages ranged from 10 - 24 years. Surgical removal was complete in 6. All received radiotherapy. Nine had additional chemotherapy. Mild cerebellar ataxia was present in 10, and external ocular movement abnormalities in 2. Signs attributable to therapy were optic atrophy in 2, fine motor incoordination in 2, dyspraxia in 7 and dementia in 1. Epilepsy occurred in 2. Only 1 patient who presented at 13 years was free of neurologic consequences of therapy. Only 2 attended grade school, and only 3 are gainfully employed. [1]

COMMENT. Detection of tumor occurrence by surveillance scanning in children with medulloblastoma is reported from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Surveillance brain scans failed to detect recurrent disease in most patients and had virtually no impact on outcome. Follow-up should emphasize parent education and neurologic evaluation to detect relapse and to elicit and remediate late effects of therapy. [2]

The antineoplastic effects of gallium nitrate on human medulloblastoma in vivo are reported from the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI [3]. Mice injected intradermally with medulloblastoma Daoy cell line developed tumors. Gallium nitrate treatment reduced tumor growth rate and tumor size, but the animals suffered nephrotoxicity.

 Walace SJ Salaman PF Long-term neurologic problems of children treated with medulloblastoma Pediatr Neurol 1992 Sept/Oct 8 386 387 (abstract) 10.1016/0887-8994(92)90254-V Torres C Ann Neurol 1992 Sept 32 458 (abstract) Whelan HT Schmidt MH Anderson GS Chan BK Hunter K Kubacki D Antineoplastic effects of gallium nitrate on human medulloblastoma in vivo Pediatr Neurol 1992 Sep-Oct 8 5 323 327 10.1016/0887-8994(92)90031-S 1418174