title: Morphological brain lesions of pediatric cerebellar tumor survivors correlate with inferior neurocognitive function but do not affect health-related quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to determine whether extent of morphological brain injury in pediatric cerebellar tumor survivors correlates with neurocognitive function and health-related quality of life (HrQoL).
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventeen cerebellar pilocytic astrocytoma (cPA) and 17 medulloblastoma (MB) survivors were examined for HrQoL, intelligence using the German version of the WISC-III, attention, working memory, and visual motor coordination. MRI scans were analyzed for extent of posterior fossa brain tissue loss.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found significant correlations between amount and extent morphological brain lesions of pediatric cerebellar tumor survivors and several cognitive impairments including intelligence and attention in both patient groups. These were in total more pronounced in MB patients when compared to cPA patients. Still, function loss and brain lesions detected on conventional MRI did not influence HrQoL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings support the notion that long-term neurocognitive deficits of pediatric posterior fossa tumor survivors significantly correlate with brain tissue damage. The cerebellum plays a role in regulating higher-order functions. On the contrary, the extent brain injury is not detected by HrQoL assessment.
authors: Pediatric Neurooncology Program, Department of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Augustenburger Platz 1, D-13353, Berlin, Germany.
authors: Rajiv Kumar
authors: RK
authors: Khajuria
authors: Friederike
authors: F
authors: Blankenburg
authors: Ines
authors: I
authors: Wuithschick
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Rueckriegel
authors: Ulrich-Wilhelm
authors: UW
authors: Thomale
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Mansour
authors: Pablo Hernáiz
authors: PH
authors: Driever
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001254:Astrocytoma; D001930:Brain Injuries / Q000209:etiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D015192:Infratentorial Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008527:Medulloblastoma; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012919:Social Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires