Language performance in children treated for brainstem tumour

Two female subjects aged between 10 and 12 years, 20 months post high-dose radiotherapy for a low-grade astrocytoma in the brainstem region, were found to have intact language abilities across a wide range of skills including higher-level language and literacy. Subjects were tested using a battery of standardised language assessments covering general receptive and expressive language abilities, confrontation naming, problem solving, complex reasoning, knowledge and use of word functions, higher-level language, and literacy. In these particular cases, radiotherapy as a treatment for paediatric brainstem tumour in the absence of surgery or chemotherapy did not impact on communication ability. While no effects on language may manifest one to two years following treatment, the need to monitor patients in the long term is highlighted, as is longitudinal research at greater intervals post treatment. By removing the potential impact of surgical intervention, and/or chemotherapy, these cases can provide a model for differentiating the effect of radiologic treatment techniques on communication

Audiology · Brainstem · Chemotherapy · Developmental psychology · Language impairment · Literacy · Pedagogy · Radiation therapy · Brain Metastases and Treatment · Glioma Diagnosis and Treatment · Medicine · Meningioma and schwannoma management · Psychology · Internal Medicine · Surgery