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Postoperative word-finding difficulties in children with posterior fossa tumours : a crosslinguistic European cohort study

Persson, K LU orcid ; Grønbæk, J ; Tiberg, I LU ; Fyrberg, Å ; Castor, C LU ; Andreozzi, B ; Frič, R ; Hauser, P ; Kiudeliene, R and Mallucci, C , et al. (2025) In Child's Nervous System 41. p.1-14
Abstract

PURPOSE: Posterior fossa tumour (PFT) surgery carries a risk of mutism or severely reduced speech. As for higher-cognitive language functions, word-finding difficulties have been reported, but no study has compared pre- and postoperative word-finding speeds to identify impairment caused by surgery. The current study investigated changes in word-finding ability associated with PFT surgery and examined factors affecting postoperative ability.

METHOD: We included 184 children aged 5:0-17:9 years undergoing PFT surgery and assessed word-finding ability before and after surgery using a speeded picture-naming test. We compared postoperative word-finding performance with both preoperative performance and age-specific norms and examined... (More)

PURPOSE: Posterior fossa tumour (PFT) surgery carries a risk of mutism or severely reduced speech. As for higher-cognitive language functions, word-finding difficulties have been reported, but no study has compared pre- and postoperative word-finding speeds to identify impairment caused by surgery. The current study investigated changes in word-finding ability associated with PFT surgery and examined factors affecting postoperative ability.

METHOD: We included 184 children aged 5:0-17:9 years undergoing PFT surgery and assessed word-finding ability before and after surgery using a speeded picture-naming test. We compared postoperative word-finding performance with both preoperative performance and age-specific norms and examined factors affecting word-finding ability.

RESULTS: We found no significant difference between pre- and postoperative performance, reflecting that some children exhibited better word-finding ability after surgery, others poorer. After surgery, 95% of the children performed two standard deviations above (slower than) age-specific norms. Tumour location in the fourth ventricle negatively affected postoperative word-finding ability (B = -4.09, p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: For some children, PFT surgery leads to postoperative word-finding difficulties, emphasizing the importance of postoperative language assessments and interventions. Fourth-ventricle tumour location emerged as a risk factor for poorer postoperative word-finding ability, likely reflecting surgical damage to the dentato-thalamo-cortical pathway (DTCP).

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Children, Posterior fossa tumour, Child, Adolescent, Cohort Studies, Europe/epidemiology, Postoperative Complications/etiology, language impairment., Neurosurgical Procedures/methods
in
Child's Nervous System
volume
41
article number
128
pages
1 - 14
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • scopus:105000252689
  • pmid:40075014
ISSN
1433-0350
DOI
10.1007/s00381-025-06787-4
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
© 2025. The Author(s).
id
f0beb51e-7933-406f-a1ef-7a37de028416
date added to LUP
2025-04-23 10:43:51
date last changed
2025-07-03 10:37:38
@article{f0beb51e-7933-406f-a1ef-7a37de028416,
  abstract     = {{<p>PURPOSE: Posterior fossa tumour (PFT) surgery carries a risk of mutism or severely reduced speech. As for higher-cognitive language functions, word-finding difficulties have been reported, but no study has compared pre- and postoperative word-finding speeds to identify impairment caused by surgery. The current study investigated changes in word-finding ability associated with PFT surgery and examined factors affecting postoperative ability.</p><p>METHOD: We included 184 children aged 5:0-17:9 years undergoing PFT surgery and assessed word-finding ability before and after surgery using a speeded picture-naming test. We compared postoperative word-finding performance with both preoperative performance and age-specific norms and examined factors affecting word-finding ability.</p><p>RESULTS: We found no significant difference between pre- and postoperative performance, reflecting that some children exhibited better word-finding ability after surgery, others poorer. After surgery, 95% of the children performed two standard deviations above (slower than) age-specific norms. Tumour location in the fourth ventricle negatively affected postoperative word-finding ability (B = -4.09, p &lt; 0.05).</p><p>CONCLUSION: For some children, PFT surgery leads to postoperative word-finding difficulties, emphasizing the importance of postoperative language assessments and interventions. Fourth-ventricle tumour location emerged as a risk factor for poorer postoperative word-finding ability, likely reflecting surgical damage to the dentato-thalamo-cortical pathway (DTCP).</p>}},
  author       = {{Persson, K and Grønbæk, J and Tiberg, I and Fyrberg, Å and Castor, C and Andreozzi, B and Frič, R and Hauser, P and Kiudeliene, R and Mallucci, C and Mathiasen, R and Nyman, P and Pizer, B and Sehested, A and Boeg Thomsen, D}},
  issn         = {{1433-0350}},
  keywords     = {{Children; Posterior fossa tumour; Child; Adolescent; Cohort Studies; Europe/epidemiology; Postoperative Complications/etiology; language impairment.; Neurosurgical Procedures/methods}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{03}},
  pages        = {{1--14}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Child's Nervous System}},
  title        = {{Postoperative word-finding difficulties in children with posterior fossa tumours : a crosslinguistic European cohort study}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00381-025-06787-4}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s00381-025-06787-4}},
  volume       = {{41}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}