Very late nonfatal consequences of fractionated TBI in children undergoing bone marrow transplant.

PURPOSE: To describe long-term late consequences in children who received total body irradiation (TBI) for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation 10 years earlier. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A cohort of 42 children treated with TBI between 1985 and 1993, still alive at least 10 years after fractionated TBI (FTBI), was evaluated. Twenty-five patients received FTBI at 330 cGy/day for 3 days (total dose 990 cGy), whereas 17 children were administered fractions of 200 cGy twice daily for 3 days (total dose 1200 cGy). Twenty-seven patients received autologous and 16 allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Median age at TBI was 6.3 years, and 18.4 years at most recent follow-up. RESULTS: Cataract was diagnosed in 78% of patients after a median of 5.7 years. Hypothyroidism was detected in 12%, whereas thyroid nodules were observed in 60% of our population after a median interval of 10.2 years. Patients treated with 990 cGy developed thyroid nodules more frequently than those treated with 1200 cGy (p = 0.0002). Thyroid carcinoma was diagnosed in 14% of the total population. Females who received FTBI after menarche more frequently developed temporary ovarian dysfunction than those treated before menarche, but cases of persistent ovarian dysfunction did not differ between the two groups. Indirect signs of germinal testicular dysfunction were detected in 87% of males. Restrictive pulmonary disease was observed in 74% of patients. Osteochondroma was found in 29% of patients after a median interval of 9.2 years. This latter complication appeared more frequently in patients irradiated before the age of 3 years (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that late effects that are likely permanent, although not fatal, are frequent in survivors 10 years after TBI. However, some of the side effects observed shortly after TBI either disappeared or remained unchanged without signs of evolution. Monitoring is recommended to pursue secondary prevention strategies and counseling on family planning.

Pinning in slipped capital femoral epiphysis: long-term follow-up study.

This long-term follow-up study was aimed at evaluating patients with hip epiphysiolysis treated by pinning and previously controlled by short-term follow-up, in order to evaluate both clinical and radiographic evolution. The case series included 36 patients (17 female and 19 male) for overall 48 hips (21 right, 27 left). The epiphysiolysis was bilateral in 12 patients. Median follow-up was 17.9 years (range 8.8-29.2). Clinical results were evaluated according to Harris, radiographic results according to Boyer. The patients were divided into three groups according to slipping degree calculated following Southwick (0-30 degrees, 30-60 degrees, >60 degrees ). Slipping degree was found to be directly correlated with worsening of results. Reduction manoeuvres on chronic epiphysiolysis proved to lead to even poorer results. Our review, even though carried out on a limited number of cases, showed that (1) hips with arthrosis at first control resulted in worsening in the majority of cases; (2) slipping degree was proportional to the result obtained; (3) reduction manoeuvres performed on chronic epiphysiolysis had a negative influence on results; (4) the presence of chondrolysis or epiphyseal necrosis always led to early hip arthrosis; (5) in the absence of major complications, evolution towards arthrosis can be slow and adulthood or even old age can be reached without resorting to total hip replacement.