Neuropsychological functioning in a long‐term survivor of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia: A case study with comparison to a nonafflicted twin sibling

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Abstract
A male child diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia at age 3 and subsequently treated prophylactically with cranio‐spinal radiation and chemotherapy was neuropsychologically evaluated while in remission at ages 7 and 12 with particular emphasis on verbal/language ability. The nonafflicted fraternal twin of the proband served as a control. Deficits in the proband, but not the twin, were found on a variety of specific measures, and Verbal IQ was found to decrease considerably with time. The relevance of such factors as neuro‐developmental age at the time of diagnosis and treatment, the effects of subpathogenic doses of cranial radiation, and the fundamental cerebral functional systems that may be involved are discussed.