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Early radiation swelling remains a problem in the management of paediatric brain tumours

Department of Radiotherapy, St Bartholomew's Hospital, London EC1 and Department of Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, London W1

This excerpt was created in the absence of an abstract.

Deteriorating neurological signs following the first fractions of radiotherapy for central nervous system tumours have long been recognised and categorised as "early radiation swelling" /oedema (Rubin & Casaret, 1968; Young et al, 1974), perhaps of vascular origin, comparable with primary radiation erythema of skin. However, with dexamethasone therapy and the relatively low daily fractional doses prescribed for paediatric brain tumours, it is nowadays uncommon to commence treatment with very low dose fractions, as precautionarily practised in the past. Indeed, several authorities (Kramer, 1968; Sheline, 1980) argue that such practice is unnecessary. We describe two cases that argue for individual assessment.

Received for publication December 1, 1986. Revision received February 1, 1987.