Abstract
8 long-surviving children, treated for medulloblastoma with combination radiotherapy
and chemotherapy after surgery were examined in order to assess general intelligence,
immediate attention and prolonged attention. Their siblings or first cousins were
selected as controls.
The children with medulloblastoma performed significantly worse than their peers,
both in intelligence tests and attention tests. A trend towards a positive correlation
between age at the start of treatment and IQs was confirmed in our study, while there
was no evidence of a correlation between IQs and time elapsed from therapy.
The role of chemotherapy, radiotherapy and their combination effect in producing neuropsychological
sequelae is discussed.
Key words
Medulloblastoma - Radiotherapy - Chemotherapy - Intelligence - Attention
