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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Sonographic monitoring of pelvic organs during pubertal maturation in girls treated for childhood acute leukemia

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Abstract Study Objective: To describe pubertal maturation of pelvic organs in long-term female survivors of acute childhood leukemia. Design: A case-control study comparing the uterine and ovarian biometry and the ovarian ultrasonographic patterns. Data were ordered according to age and Tanner staging. Setting: Department of Pediatrics, University of Palermo, Italy. Participants: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Palermo, Italy. Subjects: 11 long-term pubertal female survivors of acute childhood leukemia. 53 healthy pubertal schoolgirls as control group. Interventions: Assessment of pubertal development by Tanner staging and by recording age at menarche. Ultrasonographic examination of uterus and ovaries. Main outcome measures: Uterine and ovarian volume calculated by the prolate ellipse formula. Ultrasonographic patterns of the ovaries. Results: Before onset of puberty, ovarian and uterine volume were smaller in long-term survivors than in controls ( p p Conclusion: In long-term female survivors of childhood acute leukemia, pubertal maturation of pelvic organs is normal. However, the slower ovarian growth and the smaller ovarian volume of the most mature female survivors suggests that some cytotoxic-induced ovarian damage occurred during treatment.