How Telemedicine and Centralized Care Changed the Natural History of Retinoblastoma in a Developing Country: Analysis of 478 Patients.
Ophthalmology
; 128(1): 130-137, 2021 01.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32682835
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE:
To evaluate the efficacy of integrating a telemedicine-based twinning partnership and centralized care for retinoblastoma on survival and eye salvage.DESIGN:
Four hundred seventy-eight retinoblastoma patients treated at a tertiary referral cancer center (King Hussein Cancer Centre [KHCC]) from 2003 through 2019.PARTICIPANTS:
Four hundred seventy-eight retinoblastoma patients treated at KHCC after implementing a telemedicine-based program with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.METHODS:
We reviewed the outcomes of retinoblastoma patients who were treated at KHCC after implementing a telemedicine-based eye salvage program with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, and we compared that with outcomes for retinoblastoma patients who were treated before implementing a telemedicine-based retinoblastoma service at KHCC. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
We analyzed patient demographics, clinical characteristics, treatments received, consultation type and duration, and long-term patient outcomes before and after implementing the twinning program.RESULTS:
Over 17 years, 813 eyes from 478 children with retinoblastoma were treated at KHCC. Three hundred thirty-five patients (70%) had bilateral disease. Six patients (4%) with unilateral disease and 66 patients (20%) with bilateral disease had a family history of retinoblastoma. After the twinning program was established in 2003, the mortality rate decreased from 38% to 5% (P < 0.0001), and the overall eye salvage rate increased from 4% to 61% (98% for group A, 93% for group B, 81% for group C, and 48% for group D; P < 0.0001). Initially, all cases were discussed via telemedicine, but as knowledge transfer increased, the proportion of cases that required discussion decreased to less than 3% 10 years later. Similarly, treatment changes based on consultations decreased from 70% to 7% after 10 years. Both survival and eye-salvage rates were comparable at the early and later stages of implementing the twinning program. At a median follow-up of 120 months, 5% of patients had died of metastases or secondary neoplasms, 81% were alive, and 14% were lost to follow-up.CONCLUSIONS:
Centralization of care at a single center in developing countries can achieve patient outcomes comparable with those of developed countries via twinning and telemedicine. This benefit can extend to a large region because two thirds of patients treated at KHCC were non-Jordanians.Palavras-chave
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Encaminhamento e Consulta
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Retinoblastoma
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Telemedicina
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Gerenciamento Clínico
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Neoplasias da Retina
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article