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Abstract #2473

Regional Evaluation of White Matter Injury in Children Treated with Cranial-Spinal Radiation for Medulloblastomas

Colleen Dockstader1, Todd Cunningham1, Eric Bouffet2, Nicole Law1, Normand Laperriere3, Suzanne Laughlin4, Douglas Strother5, Christopher Fryer6, Marie-Eve Briere5, Juliette Hukin7, Dina McConnell8, Fang Liu1, Conrad Rockel9, Donald Mabbott1

1Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 2Haematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 3Haematology/Oncology, Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 4Diagnostic Imaging, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; 5Hematology, Oncology, & Transplant Program, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, Ontario, Canada; 6Haematology/Oncology, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, Ontario, Canada; 7Pediatric Neurology & Oncology/Hematology/BMT Programs, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada; 8Psychology, BC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, Ontario, Canada; 9Radiology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


Cranial-spinal radiation (CSR) therapy for tumor treatment is associated with significant damage to the brains white matter. We wished to determine which regions are most affected by CSR in children treated for medulloblastomas. We compared regional values of white matter integrity in 24 healthy children and 16 patients. Regions with the lowest white matter integrity were the regions that received the highest radiation doses. This suggests that radiation directly resulted in white matter injury in a dose-dependent manner. Our findings may serve as an index of how dose gradient relates to white matter injury when considering treatment in this clinical population.