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An online tumor board with international neurosurgical collaboration guides surgical decision-making in Western Kenya.

Fraser C HendersonJacob LepardJason SeiblyWilliam RamboScott BoswellWilliam R Copeland
Published in: Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery (2020)
Telecollaboration via web-based platforms has emerged as a tool to relieve constraints on the establishment of tumor boards for neurosurgical oncology. Challenging tumor cases arising in low- and middle-income countries may benefit from the use of such models. The case of a 5-year-old boy presenting in Western Kenya with a challenging tumor and symptomatic hydrocephalus was presented on a novel web platform to a multi-national audience of neurosurgeons. The treating neurosurgeon invited a physician network to review the case vignette and radiographic images. Respondents independently offered input during a prescribed response period. Three respondents provided surgical opinions during a 24-h response period. The treating neurosurgeon utilized the pooled input to determine a course of action for the patient. When a web-based platform is available, lone neurosurgeons in low-resource settings may nevertheless apply multi-national, multi-institutional perspectives to challenging oncology cases.
Keyphrases
  • palliative care
  • emergency department
  • high throughput
  • case report
  • primary care
  • quality improvement
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  • open label
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