Late adverse events in long-term dumbbell neuroblastoma survivors

Extract

Neuroblastoma (NBL) is a malignant neoplasm of the sympathetic nervous system. There are 20- 25 newly diagnosed NBL patients/ year in The Netherlands of which 1-2/ year have a dumbbell variant. The dumbbell NBL originates from any neural crest element of the sympathetic nervous system, the tumor grows through the foramen intervertebrale into the spinal canal. This leads to neurological symptoms due to spinal cord compression, which may be permanent. Treatment can be accompanied by a heavy burden of morbidity: extensive laminectomies at a young age can lead to serious orthopedic sequelae. Purpose: to evaluate the prevalence of late adverse events in long-term dumbbell NBL survivors. …