Gait analysis in children treated by surgery followed by adjuvant therapy for posterior fossa tumors

Abstract

Children affected by posterior fossa tumors show signs and symptoms of neurological dysfunction, associated both to cancer itself and to cancer therapies. Abnormal gait and coordination difficulties are frequent presenting features. Radiation therapy represents the main adjuvant treatment for these patients. However it can produce significant neurologic injury, also manifested as gait disturbance months after treatment. We have analyzed temporo-spatial parameters of gait in sixteen children treated for posterior fossa tumors, mainly medulloblastomas. In all children we found a typical gait pattern of cerebellar ataxia. There were no significant differences between data obtained in children affected by severe neurological impairment and those having slight or even hardly recognizable physical signs. Although the number of patients studied is not large enough to allow definitive conclusions and gait analyses were performed after treatment, our results suggest that most children treated for posterior fossa tumors have gait disturbances and in some of them these are subclinical. Standard gait analysis laboratory methods can thus be a valuable tool for the careful assessment and follow-up of these patients.