Facial growth and morphology in long-term survivors after bone marrow transplantation

A roentgen cephalometric investigation was used to study facial growth and morphology in 17 children who had undergone bone marrow transplantation (BMT) because of acute leukaemia and aplastic anaemia. The ages at BMT varied from 1.0 to 12.9 years. Preoperative treatment included high doses of cyclophosphamide and in children with acute leukaemia also 10 Gy total body irradiation (TBI). The median observation period following BMT was 3.9 years. The control group comprised 85 age and sex matched healthy children. In comparison to the controls, all linear measurements studied were found to be significantly diminished in children conditioned with TBI. For variables describing vertical dimensions, the degree of reduction appeared to be associated with the patients' ages at the time of irradiation. It was concluded that the disturbance in dental development, which is also a consequence of TBI, could be partly responsible for this association. Children who were not conditioned with TBI exhibited no significant differences when compared to controls in respect of the variables studied.