Comparison of intelligence quotient in children surviving leukemia who received different prophylactic central nervous system treatments

BACKGROUND: Neurocognitive deficits and decrease in intelligence quotient (IQ) is one of the complication of prophylactic central nervous system (CNS) treatment in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) patients. In this study, we compare the IQ in survivors of ALL that were treated with different prophylactic CNS treatments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We compared 43 long-term survivors of ALL: 21 survivors with intrathecal methotrexate (IT MTX) as CNS prophylaxis, 22 with IT MTX+1800-2400 rads cranial irradiation and 20 healthy controls. The IQ was measured using the Raven's test in these patients. RESULTS: Raven's test revealed significant differences in IQ between the survivors of ALL that were treated with IT MTX, IT MTX plus cranial irradiation and control group. There was no significant difference in the IQ with respect to sex, age and irradiation dose. CONCLUSION: We can that reveal that CNS prophylaxis treatment, especially the combined treatment, is associated with IQ score decline in ALL survivors. Therefore,a baseline and an annual assessment of their educational progress are suggested.