[The effect of radio- and chemotherapy on lung function in children with malignant diseases]

Treatment of malignant diseases in children has become more an more aggressive during the last 15-20 years. In order to detect unwanted side-effects on the lung we investigated several parameters of lung function in 78 children with different malignancies. 1.5-15 years after termination of therapy, 43 patients (55.1%) showed a disturbed lung function. In 33.3% we found a restriction; 22 of 64 patients (34.9%) had a drop of PaO2 during exercise as an expression of disturbed diffusion. The number of patients with pathological pulmonary function raised with the intensity of irradiation of the lung. But also in 10 of 25 children who had only received a chemotherapy we could detect a disturbed lung function. Check-up at different times after completion of therapy (5, 8 and 11 years) revealed nearly the same percentage of patients without normal pulmonary function. Younger children (at the time of therapy) were more concerned (66.7%) than older ones (33.7%).