Cranial computer assisted tomography and electroencephalography in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia : a longitudinal study

This longitudinal study was initiated in order to examine the nature and sequence of structural and functional cerebral abnormalities in children with acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL). For this purpose computer assisted tomography scans of the brain ( CT scans ) and electroencephalograms EEG's ) were obtained at diagnosis before treatment was instituted, after induction therapy, at specific times during maintenance treatment and till one year therafter. An other obiective was to investigate retrospectively whether children who first relapsed in the central nervous system ( CNS ) could be identified at initial diagnosis or shortly thereafter. Cerebral CT scans were performed with an EMI 1010 or a Philips 300 or 310 scanner. Linear measurements of the ventricles, sulci and skull on the rontgen films were performed three times. The means thereof were multiplied by the minification factor in order to obtain the actual dimensions. The frontal horn and cella media indices were calculated. The results were compared with the reference values of each of three evaluation methods: with those of Enzmann and Lane, with those of Meese et al and with the Huckmannumber as defined for children by Meese et al. The results were coded. CT scans were also examined for the presence of hypodense areas and calcifications.