A 40-Year Cohort Study of Evolving Hypothalamic Dysfunction in Infants and Young Children (<3 Years) with Optic Pathway Gliomas.

Despite high survival, paediatric optic pathway hypothalamic gliomas are associated with significant morbidity and late mortality. Those youngest at presentation have the worst outcomes. We aimed to assess presenting disease, tumour location, and treatment factors implicated in the evolution of neuroendocrine, metabolic, and neurobehavioural morbidity in 90 infants/children diagnosed before their third birthday and followed-up for 9.5 years (range 0.5–25.0). A total of 52 (57.8%) patients experienced endo-metabolic dysfunction (EMD), the large majority (46) of whom had hypothalamic involvement (H+) and lower endocrine event-free survival (EEFS) rates. EMD was greatly increased by a diencephalic syndrome presentation (85.2% vs. 46%, p = 0.001)), H+ (OR 6.1 95% CI 1.7–21.7, p 0.005), radiotherapy (OR 16.2, 95% CI 1.7–158.6, p = 0.017) and surgery (OR 4.8 95% CI 1.3–17.2, p = 0.015), all associated with anterior pituitary disorders. Obesity occurred in 25% of cases and was clustered with the endocrinopathies. Neurobehavioural deficits occurred in over half (52) of the cohort and were associated with H+ (OR 2.5 95% C.I. 1.1–5.9, p = 0.043) and radiotherapy (OR 23.1 C.I. 2.9–182, p = 0.003). Very young children with OPHG carry a high risk of endo-metabolic and neurobehavioural comorbidities which deserve better understanding and timely/parallel support from diagnosis to improve outcomes. These evolve in complex, hierarchical patterns over time whose aetiology appears predominantly determined by injury from the hypothalamic tumour location alongside adjuvant treatment strategies.