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Weight and Height Deficits in Children with Brain Stem Tumors
Ralph A. W. Lehman, MD
Department of Neurological Surgery and Rehabilitation, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, FL; Section of Neurosurgery, VA 112, James A. Haley Veterans Administration Medical Center, 13000 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612
Satish Krishnamurthy, MD, MCh
Department of Neurosurgery, State University of New York Health Science Center, Syracuse, NY
Cheston M. Berlin, MD
Department of Pediatrics, The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA
Weight deficit is common among children with brain stem tumors and is often accompanied by height deficit. Among 22 consecutive children ( 18 years) with brain stem tumor, 16 had weight deficit ( 20th percentile) (p<1.4e-7). Eleven were at or less than the 5th percentile, and 5 were less than the 1st weight percentile. Eight also had height deficit ( 20th percentile) (p<0.06). Misdiagnoses occurred: failure to thrive in 5, growth retardation in 2, and anorexia nervosa in 2. Delay between these diagnoses and that of brain tumor averaged 4.5 years. Detailed neuroradiologic study seems worthwhile if weight deficit is extreme and either unexplained or uncorrectable, or if the weight deficit is accompanied by an abnormality suggestive of intracranial disease.
Clinical Pediatrics, Vol. 41, No. 5,
315-321 (2002)
DOI: 10.1177/000992280204100504

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