Parental Satisfaction from Telemedicine in the Follow-up of Children Operated for Craniosynostosis during COVID-19 Pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: The current study aimed to evaluate the satisfaction level of parents from telemedicine use in the long-term follow-up of children operated for craniosynostosis during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: A cross-sectional 9-question survey analysis using Qualtrics survey software. SETTING: An institutional study carried out at a national, tertiary level academic center in the Slovak Republic. PATIENTS: All patients operated for non-syndromic and syndromic craniosynostosis in our department, who participated in the virtual postoperative follow-up consultations from March 23, 2020, through July 2, 2021, were included in our series. They were enrolled 498 patients, with the parents of 256 children being responding to the survey. INTERVENTIONS: The survey remained open until July 16, 2021, two weeks after the last virtual consultations. It was delivered to the parents by e-mail to generate closed 5-point Likert scale responses. RESULTS: Overall, 72.3% of parents were satisfied with the telemedicine program, and 67.2% found it convenient. Collectively, 89.1% reported that the received instructions were helpful to them. However, only 18.7% of them answered that they would prefer telemedicine consultations in the future. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed a high satisfaction from the parents during the virtual follow-up of children operated for craniosynostosis. However, despite their positive experience with telemedicine, the vast majority of parents stated that they would prefer in-person visits in the future.

Absorbable sutures for the achievement of stable osteosynthesis in surgery for craniosynostosis.

AIM OF THE STUDY: The goal of the present study was to analyse the exclusive use of absorbable suture material (Vicryl) in the fixation of transposed bone segments in cranial vault reshaping without modification of the osteotomy design. CLINICAL RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY: In the surgical correction of craniosynostosis, bone fixation using osteosynthesis is a key step. Absorbable osteosynthesis is a widespread tool in cranial vault remodelling, but only a limited number of studies have described the use of absorbable sutures in the treatment of patients with craniosynostosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 72 children with various types of craniosynostosis, up to 24 months of age, osteosynthesis was conducted exclusively with Vicryl sutures. All patients were evaluated for the stability of postoperative results, and foreign body reactions were examined as part of the routine clinical and radiological follow-up ranging from 1 to 36 months. RESULTS: All examined children exhibited stable postoperative conditions with immediate stability of all remodelled cranial vaults. 2D and 3D radiological examinations demonstrated good bony union in all cases. Significant foreign body reactions were not observed and bone healing was noted at all sites. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The exclusive application of absorbable suture material enables stable and cost-effective osteosynthesis in craniofacial surgery without altering the osteotomy design.

Intrathecal baclofen in mucopolysaccharidosis type II (Hunter syndrome): case report.

PURPOSE: Intrathecal baclofen administration is commonly used in the treatment of children's spasticity. In general, candidates for baclofen pump are patients with spastic form of cerebral palsy. Intrathecal baclofen in the treatment of spasticity due to a metabolic disorder is rarely reported. METHODS: Authors report on an 11-year-old boy with mucopolysaccharidosis type II (Hunter syndrome) with progressive stiffness and contractures followed by profound loss of joint movement range and tiptoe walking pattern. Patient was indicated for baclofen test with subsequent pump insertion and continuous intrathecal baclofen administration. RESULTS: Postoperatively, patient was gradually set to current baclofen dose of 250 µg/day. At mentioned dose, we observed not only increased active and passive range of movements and facilitation in fine motor skills, but also better walking pattern. CONCLUSIONS: Despite intrathecal baclofen administration in patients with spasticity related to mucopolysaccharidosis type II is not widely reported, we consider it as feasible treatment. To emphasize, enzyme replacement therapy is the primary treatment, and improvement is attributed to both enzyme substitution and intrathecal baclofen therapy.

Anthropometry of craniosynostosis.

BACKGROUND: Anthropometry is becoming a popular method for diagnostics of various diseases in pediatric clinical practice. The aim of this study was to assess the growth changes in craniofacial parameters in patients with craniosynostosis and positional plagiocephaly. METHODS: Inclusion criteria for the study were presence of craniostenosis or positional plagiocephaly in a patient with at least three anthropometric evaluations at our department. Studied patients were aged from 1.0 month to 2.5 years with median age at the first and last anthropometric evaluation as 1.83 and 25.27 months, respectively. Further anthropometric results in patients older than 2.5 years were excluded from the study. Statistical significance was tested by the Mann-Whitney test. RESULTS: The studied group consisted of 70.5% male patients. The type of craniosynostosis was represented by scaphocephaly in 44.1%, by trigonocephaly in 45.6% and by coronal craniosynostosis in 10.3% of the cases. Cranial index was proven as a suitable parameter for evaluating differences in the trend of growth in craniosynostosis (p<0.001) and also for evaluating post-operative results. Significance was found in width of the head (p=0.038) for scaphocephaly and in length of the head for trigonocephaly (p=0.001) in surgically treated patients. Trend of cranial growth in operated patients copied the curve of the norm but in higher or lower values which depends on the type of prematurely closed suture. CONCLUSION: Longitudinal anthropometric follow-up is an objective and measurable method that can accurately non-invasively and non-expensively assess skull growth in pediatric patients with cranial deformity.

Usefulness of McRAPD for typing and importance of biofilm production in a case of nosocomial ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection caused by Candida lusitaniae.

A case report of ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection caused by Candida lusitaniae in a 6-year-old patient with cerebral astrocytoma and obstructive hydrocephalus is presented briefly with emphasis on the course of antifungal treatment. Seven isolates recovered subsequently from the cerebrospinal fluid were studied retrospectively. To confirm identity, isolates were typed using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and melting curve of random amplified polymorphic DNA (McRAPD). Further, the ability to form biofilm and its susceptibility to systemic antifungals were evaluated. Using McRAPD, identity of C. lusitaniae isolates showing slight microevolutionary changes in karyotypes was undoubtedly confirmed; successful application of numerical interpretation of McRAPD for typing is demonstrated here for the first time. The strain was also recognized as a strong biofilm producer. Moreover, minimum biofilm inhibitory concentrations were very high, in contrast to low antifungal minimum inhibitory concentrations of isolates. It can be concluded that McRAPD seems to be a simple and reliable method not only for identification but also for typing of yeasts. A ventriculoperitoneal shunt colonized by C. lusitaniae was revealed as the source of this nosocomial infection, and the ability of the strain to form biofilm on its surface likely caused treatment failure.