Follow-up and quality of survival of 67 consecutive children with CNS tumors.
We report the findings at follow-up in 67 consecutive children with central nervous system tumors treated over a 5-year-period at a single institution. The diagnoses were supratentorial astrocytoma (n = 12), cerebellar astrocytoma (n = 10), ependymoma (n = 9), medulloblastoma (n = 9), brain stem glioma (n = 6), optic pathway glioma (n = 5), and others (n = 16). The survival rates were 83% for supratentorial astrocytomas at a median of 46.5 months, 90% for cerebellar astrocytomas and 55% for ependymomas at 40 months, respectively, 55% for medulloblastomas at 22 months, 33% for brain stem gliomas at 23 months, and 80% for optic pathway gliomas at 49 months. With regard to neurological sequelae, 13 patients were treated for epilepsy, 13 patients had mild to moderate neurological deficits, and 4 patients were severely disabled. Seventeen of 37 tested patients performed below average on formal neuropsychometric testing, one-fourth attended special education courses, and at least one-fourth suffered from behavioral and adjustment problems.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Graz, Austria.
I
I
Slavc
C
C
Salchegger
C
C
Hauer
C
C
Urban
R
R
Oberbauer
B
B
Pakisch
F
F
Ebner
W
W
Schwinger
M
M
Mokry
G
G
Ranner
D000293:Adolescent; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life; D015996:Survival Rate