Key clinical point: Bacteremic sepsis during acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment may contribute to long-term neurocognitive dysfunction.

Major finding: ALL survivors with a sepsis history performed worse than did those with no sepsis history on evaluations of spatial planning (difference, 0.78), verbal fluency (0.38), and attention (0.63).

Study details: Prospective cohort study of 212 ALL survivors who underwent neurocognitive testing at a median of nearly 8 years after diagnosis.

Disclosures: The study was supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities. The researchers reported having no conflicts of interest.

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