by Loice Swisher, M.D., co-authored by Dr. Peter Philips New resources added at the end of this article. A child s loss of speech after removal of a cerebellar tumor was initially described in 1958 (Daly and Love 1958). Cerebellar mutism was first reported in 1979 by Hirsch after a posterior fossa tumor resection. In …
Michael X. Repka, M.D., Vice Chair for Clinical Practice, Wilmer Eye Institute, Professor of Ophthalmology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21287-9028 Childhood brain tumors present with visual symptoms about 50% of the time. Additionally, children will develop visual symptoms and/or signs during and after treatment. Such signs may become …
Barry M. Shmookler, MD The first crucial step in cancer management is to assure that the pathology diagnosis (the biopsy) is correct and accurate. What is the basis for this statement? A pathologist is the only physician who can make the actual diagnosis of cancer. He/she is a medical doctor with a specialty training in the …
Recent Developments Gilbert Vezina, M.D., Director of Neuroradiology – Children’s National Medical Center, Washington D.C. Imaging techniques to diagnose, stage, and follow patients with brain tumors are central to their clinical management. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the most commonly utilized technique for lesion detection, definition of extent, detection of spread and in evaluation of …
Sara Bottomley, RN, MSN, CPNP The survival rate of patients with childhood brain tumors continues to improve. However, survivors are at risk for a variety of physical, medical, cognitive, and/or psychosocial late effects. These late effects may be directly related to the type, location and extent of the brain tumor itself or a result of …
Dr. Maya Lodish, pediatric endocrinologist National Institute of Child Health and Human Development National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD Survivors of childhood brain tumors are at an especially high risk for damage to the endocrine system. The endocrine system is comprised of glands and hormones that help to control specific functions of the body, such …
Mary Ann McCabe, Ph.D., clinical psychologist, Society for Research in Child Development Children and adolescents who have undergone treatment for brain tumors may be more likely to exhibit behavior problems than their peers. There have been relatively few formal studies of this issue, and behavior problems have often not been included in studies of neuropsychological …
Eva Perdahl, MD, PhD, Children’s National-VA and David Wolf, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University Brain tumors are the most common solid tumor of childhood. Among brain tumors, low-grade gliomas are the most common type, accounting for almost 50% of all tumor types. There are two major types of cells that make up the brain: neurons …
Paul Graham Fisher, M.D., M.H.S. and Michelle Monje, M.D., Ph.D Brain stem tumors are perhaps the most dreaded cancers in pediatric oncology, owing to their historically poor prognosis, yet they remain an area of intense research. Brain stem tumors account for about 10 to 15% of childhood brain tumors. Peak incidence for these tumors occurs …
