Alena Horska1, Ashley LaClair2,
Mona Mohamed1, Carolyn T. Wells3, Todd McNutt1,
Moody Wharam1, E Mark Mahone4, Wendy Kates2
1Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore,
MD, United States; 2SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY,
United States; 3Children's National Medical Center, Rockville, MD,
United States; 4Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United
States
The
goal of this prospective longitudinal study in children receiving brain
radiation involving the cerebellum was to evaluate vermal volumes and
performance on neuropsychological tests associated with cerebellar function.
In patients, lower mean vermal volumes and impaired performance on
visual-spatial and fine motor tasks were detected at baseline. At 6-months
post-radiation, further decrease in vermal volumes was detected in
medulloblastoma patients; the vermal volumes decrease was not associated with
reduction in neuropsychological performance compared to baseline. Regression analyses of the 6-months
follow-up data from all subjects revealed better performance on the Purdue
Pegboard tests with larger vermal volumes.
Keywords