Neuropsychological functioning after treatment for hematological malignancies in childhood, including autologous bone marrow transplantation

Neuropsychological functioning and academic achievement were assessed in 26 patients 2-10 years after autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT)for childhood hematological malignancies. Serial tests of general intelligence before and after ABMT were supplemented with a cross-sectional study of ne uropsychological functioning. Test results for general intelligence were in the normal range and mainly unaffected over time, but below average perfor mance in specific neuropsychological tests was found in a higher number of children than expected especially for the variables "Strategies, " "Attenti on, " and "Memory. " All school children were in regular classes; 5/15 obta ined extra tutorial help and two of them had major learning difficulties. E ight young adults reported normal academic achievement. Low age at diagnosi s and long time since ABMT correlated significantly with lower test results on general intelligence and "Attention," and high intensity of treatment d irected to the central nervous system correlated with more canting difficul ties as assessed by teachers. Children with identified problems in school w ere offered educational counseling based on their test profiles. To enable such counseling, it is suggested that both IQ tests and neuropsychological tests on memory and attention be included in follow-up programs for childre n who have received high-intensity cancer treatment.