Sex-based differences in functional brain activity during working memory in survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia

BACKGROUND: Long-term survivors of pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia are at elevated risk for neurocognitive deficits and corresponding brain dysfunction. This study examined sex-based differences in functional neuroimaging outcomes in acute lymphoblastic leukemia survivors treated with chemotherapy alone. METHODS: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neurocognitive testing were obtained in 123 survivors (46% male; median [min-max] age = 14.2 years [8.3-26.5 years]; time since diagnosis = 7.7 years [5.1-12.5 years]) treated on the St. Jude Total XV treatment protocol. Participants performed the n-back working memory task in a 3 T scanner. Functional neuroimaging data were processed (realigned, slice time corrected, normalized, smoothed) and analyzed using statistical parametric mapping with contrasts for 1-back and 2-back conditions, which reflect varying degrees of working memory and task load. Group-level fMRI contrasts were stratified by sex and adjusted for age and methotrexate exposure. Statistical tests were 2-sided (P \u3c .05 statistical significance threshold). RESULTS: Relative to males, female survivors exhibited less activation (ie, reduced blood oxygen dependent-level signals) in the right parietal operculum, supramarginal gyrus and inferior occipital gyrus, and bilateral superior frontal medial gyrus during increased working memory load (family-wise error-corrected P = .004 to .008, adjusting for age and methotrexate dose). Female survivors were slower to correctly respond to the 2-back condition than males (P \u3c .05), though there were no differences in overall accuracy. Performance accuracy was negatively correlated with fMRI activity in female survivors (Pearson\u27s r = -0.39 to -0.29, P = .001 to .02), but not in males. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest the working memory network is more impaired in female survivors than male survivors, which may contribute to ongoing functional deficits

Exploration par IRM multimodale des tumeurs cérébrales de l'enfant et de l'adulte. : Lésions épileptogènes, tumeurs oligodendrogliales et glioblastome

L'IRM conventionnelle est considérée comme l'outil non invasif de référence pour le diagnostic, le bilan pré-thérapeutique et le suivi post-thérapeutique des tumeurs cérébrales de l'enfant et de l'adulte. Cependant, en raison de son manque de spécificité aussi bien pour certains diagnostics différentiels que pour l'évaluation de la réponse radiologique, différentes modalités d'IRM sont aujourd'hui ajoutées à l'examen conventionnel dans le but d'affiner l'exploration de ces tumeurs. L'utilisation d'une modalité unique n'est malgré tout pas suffisante pour établir une évaluation diagnostique ou pronostique optimale des tumeurs cérébrales. C'est pourquoi nous nous sommes intéressés à la combinaison de données issues des différentes modalités d'IRM dans le but d'obtenir une meilleure caractérisation, en termes de différenciation et d'évolutivité de ces néoplasmes. Dans ce contexte, nous avons investigué par IRM multimodale 1) les tumeurs épileptogènes de l'enfant, pour lesquelles il est crucial de déterminer le diagnostic préopératoire afin d'aider à la prise en charge chirurgicale ; 2) les tumeurs oligodendrogliales de l'adulte, difficilement distinguables et dont les décisions thérapeutiques reposent sur la détermination du grade et du profil moléculaire ; et enfin 3) la réponse des glioblastomes aux traitements anti-angiogéniques.Conventional MRI is considered as the gold standard method for the non-invasive diagnosis, pretherapeutic assessment and follow-up of brain tumors in adults and in children. However, due to its lack of specificity for both differential diagnosis and evaluation of the response to treatment, several MR modalities are now added to the conventional exam in order to refine the exploration of these tumors. The use of a single modality is however not yet sufficient to establish an accurate diagnosis or prognosis for brain tumors. For this reason, we were interested in the combination of data from different MR modalities in order to obtain a better characterization of these neoplasms. In this context, we used multimodal MRI to investigate 1) pediatric epileptogenic tumors, for which it is crucial to establish a preoperative diagnosis in order to make appropriate surgical and therapeutic decisions; 2) oligodendroglial tumors in adults, hardly distinguishable and which therapeutic decisions are mainly based on the determination of the tumoral grade and molecular profile; and 3) the response of glioblastoma to anti-angiogenic treatments. Through this work, we have shown that the association of different imaging modalities provides a significant contribution to the differential pre-therapeutic diagnosis of epileptogenic brain lesions in children and also of oligodendroglial tumors in adults as well as a support for the early assessment of tumoral response to anti-angiogenic therapies

Early Evaluation of Tumoral Response to Antiangiogenic Therapy by Arterial Spin Labeling Perfusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Susceptibility Weighted Imaging in a Patient With Recurrent Glioblastoma Receiving Bevacizumab

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The diagnostic accuracy of multiparametric MRI to determine pediatric brain tumor grades and types

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Multimodal MR Imaging (Diffusion, Perfusion, and Spectroscopy): Is It Possible to Distinguish Oligodendroglial Tumor Grade and 1p/19q Codeletion in the Pretherapeutic Diagnosis?

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