Cranial computed tomography in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia after prophylactic treatment with cranial radiation therapy and intrathecal methotrexate.
METHODS
Thirty-one children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) who had received cranial radiation therapy (CrRT) and five concomitant doses of intrathecal methotrexate (IT MTX) for central nervous system prophylaxis (CNSP) and who had an event-free survival exceeding 5 years had cranial computed tomography (Cr CT) examination. The fractional dose for 21 of them was 1.5 Gy. The interval between the completion of CNSP and the time of Cr CT ranged from 5 to 8.5 years, with a median of 5 years 2 months.


RESULTS
Unlike the previous reports in the literature that 9-77% of children with ALL who had received Cr RT 18 Gy and IT MTX as CNSP had CT scan abnormalities, in this study no patient had CT scan abnormalities.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results might be attributable to the fractional dose of Cr RT being adequate, the IT chemotherapy being suitable, and the systemic chemotherapy not being intensive.
Liang
D C
DC
Department of Pediatrics, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China.
Lin
J C
JC
Shih
S L
SL
Huang
J K
JK
Wong
L Y
LY
Shu
S G
SG
Hsieh
Y L
YL
Yang
C P
CP
Tsai
Y M
YM
Lin
S T
ST
D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D016371:Cranial Irradiation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007278:Injections, Spinal; D007360:Intelligence; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000532:radiotherapy / Q000628:therapy*; D011879:Radiotherapy Dosage; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
D008727:Methotrexate