Steven A. Messina1, Rebecca Martin2,
Trisha Hay2, Gerard Deib1, E. M. Mahone2,3,
Wendy R. Kates2,4, Alena Horska1
1Department of Radiology
& Radiological Sciences, Division of Neuroradiology, Johns Hopkins
University College of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; 2Psychiatry
& Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University College of Medicine,
Baltimore, MD, United States; 3Department of Neuropsychology, Kennedy
Krieger Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States; 4Department of
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Upstate Medical University,
Syracuse, NY, United States
Longitudinal volumetric brain MRI analyses of patients undergoing brain radiation treatment for primary brain tumors and acute lymphoblastic leukemia demonstrate significantly decreased volumes of frontal, temporal, and parietal lobe white matter at 6 months following completion of radiation therapy when compared to age matched control subjects. Neuropsychological assessment including measures of attention, executive function, memory, language, and visual and motor skills were performed at each visit on patients and control subjects, and the subsequent intellectual and neurocognitive deficits exhibited by the patients corresponded with the resultant decreased lobar white matter volumes.