Mapping of long-term cognitive and motor deficits in pediatric cerebellar brain tumor survivors into a cerebellar white matter atlas.

Purpose: Diaschisis of cerebrocerebellar loops contributes to cognitive and motor deficits in pediatric cerebellar brain tumor survivors. We used a cerebellar white matter atlas and hypothesized that lesion symptom mapping may reveal the critical lesions of cerebellar tracts.

Methods: We examined 31 long-term survivors of pediatric posterior fossa tumors (13 pilocytic astrocytoma, 18 medulloblastoma).

Benefit of Static FET PET in Pretreated Pediatric Brain Tumor Patients with Equivocal Conventional MRI Results.

Background: MRI has shortcomings in differentiation between tumor tissue and post-therapeutic changes in pretreated brain tumor patients.

Patients: We assessed 22 static FET-PET/CT-scans of 17 pediatric patients (median age 12 years, range 2-16 years, ependymoma n=4, medulloblastoma n=4, low-grade glioma n=6, high-grade glioma n=3, germ cell tumor n=1, choroid plexus tumor n=1, median follow-up: 112 months) with multimodal treatment.

Method: FET-PET/CT-scans were analyzed visually by 3 independent nuclear medicine physicians.

(18)F-FET-PET guided surgical biopsy and resection in children and adolescence with brain tumors.

Purpose: MRI alone has its limitations for target selection in biopsy or resection in newly diagnosed and pretreated pediatric brain tumor patients. (18)F-FET-PET imaging is considered to identify metabolically active tumor tissue and to differentiate it from therapy-associated changes. We retrospectively analyzed our experience with (18)F-FET-PET in targeted surgical interventions for pediatric brain tumors.