TY - JOUR
T1 - Preoperative word-finding difficulties in children with posterior fossa tumours
T2 - a European cross-sectional study
AU - Persson, K
AU - Boeg Thomsen, D
AU - Fyrberg, Å
AU - Castor, C
AU - Aasved Hjort, M
AU - Andreozzi, B
AU - Grillner, P
AU - Kjær Grønbæk, J
AU - Jakus, J
AU - Juhler, M
AU - Mallucci, C
AU - Mathiasen, R
AU - Molinari, E
AU - Pizer, B
AU - Sehested, A
AU - Troks-Berzinskiene, A
AU - van Baarsen, K
AU - Tiberg, I
AU - CMS study group
N1 - © 2023. The Author(s).
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - PURPOSE: Posterior fossa tumour surgery in children entails a high risk for severe speech and language impairments, but few studies have investigated the effect of the tumour on language prior to surgery. The current crosslinguistic study addresses this gap. We investigated the prevalence of preoperative word-finding difficulties, examined associations with medical and demographic characteristics, and analysed lexical errors.METHODS: We included 148 children aged 5-17 years with a posterior fossa tumour. Word-finding ability was assessed by means of a picture-naming test, Wordrace, and difficulties in accuracy and speed were identified by cut-off values. A norm-based subanalysis evaluated performance in a Swedish subsample. We compared the demographic and medical characteristics of children with slow, inaccurate, or combined slow and inaccurate word finding to the characteristics of children without word-finding difficulties and conducted a lexical error analysis.RESULTS: Thirty-seven percent (n = 55) presented with slow word finding, 24% (n = 35) with inaccurate word finding, and 16% (n = 23) with both slow and inaccurate word finding. Children with posterior fossa tumours were twice as slow as children in the norming sample. Right-hemisphere and brainstem location posed a higher risk for preoperative word-finding difficulties, relative to left-hemisphere location, and difficulties were more prevalent in boys than in girls. The most frequent errors were lack of response and semantically related sideordinated words.CONCLUSION: Word-finding difficulties are frequent in children with posterior fossa tumours, especially in boys and in children with right-hemisphere and brainstem tumours. Errors resemble those observed in typical development and children with word-finding difficulties.
AB - PURPOSE: Posterior fossa tumour surgery in children entails a high risk for severe speech and language impairments, but few studies have investigated the effect of the tumour on language prior to surgery. The current crosslinguistic study addresses this gap. We investigated the prevalence of preoperative word-finding difficulties, examined associations with medical and demographic characteristics, and analysed lexical errors.METHODS: We included 148 children aged 5-17 years with a posterior fossa tumour. Word-finding ability was assessed by means of a picture-naming test, Wordrace, and difficulties in accuracy and speed were identified by cut-off values. A norm-based subanalysis evaluated performance in a Swedish subsample. We compared the demographic and medical characteristics of children with slow, inaccurate, or combined slow and inaccurate word finding to the characteristics of children without word-finding difficulties and conducted a lexical error analysis.RESULTS: Thirty-seven percent (n = 55) presented with slow word finding, 24% (n = 35) with inaccurate word finding, and 16% (n = 23) with both slow and inaccurate word finding. Children with posterior fossa tumours were twice as slow as children in the norming sample. Right-hemisphere and brainstem location posed a higher risk for preoperative word-finding difficulties, relative to left-hemisphere location, and difficulties were more prevalent in boys than in girls. The most frequent errors were lack of response and semantically related sideordinated words.CONCLUSION: Word-finding difficulties are frequent in children with posterior fossa tumours, especially in boys and in children with right-hemisphere and brainstem tumours. Errors resemble those observed in typical development and children with word-finding difficulties.
KW - Brain Neoplasms/complications
KW - Child
KW - Cross-Sectional Studies
KW - Female
KW - Humans
KW - Infratentorial Neoplasms/surgery
KW - Language
KW - Male
KW - Language impairment
KW - Posterior fossa tumour
KW - Cerebellar mutism syndrome
KW - Word-finding difficulties
KW - Child language
KW - Nordic-European CMS study
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85170109477&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00381-023-06119-4
DO - 10.1007/s00381-023-06119-4
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 37682305
SN - 0256-7040
VL - 40
SP - 87
EP - 97
JO - Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery
JF - Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery
IS - 1
ER -