ABSTRACT
COGNITIVE, EDUCATION, SOCIAL, QUALITY OF LIFE AND PSYCHOLOGICAL OUTCOMES (see Chapter 2b, 12a,b)
Although during the course of cancer treatment children can miss substantial amounts of schooling, a decline in cognitive function is neither a frequent nor inevitable consequence of treatment for childhood cancer.57,58 There is a strong observed association between cranial irradiation and structural brain abnormalities (disruption of frontal lobe/basal ganglia connections, temporal lobe calcification and cortical atrophy).59-62 Their functional significance is more difficult to determine, but impairment may be associated with vasculopathy, calcification and electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities.59-62 Both structural abnormalities and cognitive impairment correlate positively with dose of brain irradiation and negatively with age at irradiation.
