Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T11:43:47.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The role of a virtual telephone clinic in the follow-up management of lateral skull base tumours

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2020

S Hogan ,
J Hintze ,
C Fitzgerald ,
M Javadpour ,
D Rawluk  and
R McConn Walsh
S Hogan
Affiliation:
Neuro-Otology and Skull Base Service, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
J Hintze*
Affiliation:
Neuro-Otology and Skull Base Service, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Department of Otolaryngology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
C Fitzgerald
Affiliation:
Neuro-Otology and Skull Base Service, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Department of Otolaryngology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
M Javadpour
Affiliation:
Neuro-Otology and Skull Base Service, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Department of Neurosurgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
D Rawluk
Affiliation:
Neuro-Otology and Skull Base Service, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Department of Neurosurgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland
R McConn Walsh
Affiliation:
Neuro-Otology and Skull Base Service, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Department of Otolaryngology, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland
*
Author for correspondence: Dr Justin M Hintze, Department of Otolaryngology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont Road, Dublin 9, Ireland E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

The purpose of this article was to determine the impact of employing a telephone clinic for follow-up of patients with stable lateral skull-base tumours.

Method

An analysis of 1515 patients in the national lateral skull-base service was performed, and 148 patients enrolled in the telephone clinic to date were identified. The length of time that patients waited for results of their follow-up scans and the travel distance saved by patients not having to attend the hospital for their results was determined.

Results

The mean time from scan to receiving results was 30.5 ± 32 days, 14 days sooner than in the face-to-face group (p = 0.0016). The average round-trip distance travelled by patients to the hospital for results of their scans was 256 ± 131 km.

Conclusion

The telephone clinic led to a significant reduction in time until patients received their scan results and helped reduce travel distance and clinic numbers in traditional face-to-face clinics.

Keywords

TelephoneSkull BaseNeuromaAcousticAftercare
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 134 , Issue 12 , December 2020 , pp. 1081 - 1084
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited, 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

Dr J Hintze takes responsibility for the integrity of the content of the paper

Presented at the Irish Otolaryngological Society Annual Meeting, 11–12th October 2019, Lyrath, Ireland.

References

McRackan, TR, Brackmann, DE. Historical perspective on evolution in management of lateral skull base tumors. Otolaryngol Clin North Am 2015;48:397–405CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Khrais, T, Romano, G, Sanna, M. Nerve origin of vestibular schwannoma: a prospective study. J Laryngol Otol 2008;122:128–31CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Valvassori, GE. Cerebellopontine angle tumors. Otolaryngol Clin North Am 1988;21:337–48CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zou, J, Hirvonen, T. “Wait and scan” management of patients with vestibular schwannoma and the relevance of non-contrast MRI in the follow-up. J Otol 2017;12:174–84CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huang, X, Caye-Thomasen, P, Stangerup, S-E. Spontaneous tumour shrinkage in 1261 observed patients with sporadic vestibular schwannoma. J Laryngol Otol 2013;127:739–43CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rosenberg, SI. Natural history of acoustic neuromas. Laryngoscope 2000;110:497–508CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Neff, BA, Welling, DB, Akhmametyeva, E, Chang, LS. The molecular biology of vestibular schwannomas: dissecting the pathogenic process at the molecular level. Otol Neurotol 2006;27:197–208CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Foley, RW, Shirazi, S, Maweni, RM, Walsh, K, McConn Walsh, R, Javadpour, M et al. . Signs and symptoms of acoustic neuroma at initial presentation: an exploratory analysis. Cureus 2017;9:e1846Google ScholarPubMed
Yoshimoto, Y. Systematic review of the natural history of vestibular schwannoma. J Neurosurg 2005;103:59–63CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stangerup, SE, Caye-Thomasen, P, Tos, M, Thomsen, J. The natural history of vestibular schwannoma. Otol Neurotol 2006;27:547–52CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Amoo, M, Rawluk, D, McConn Walsh, R, Javadpour, M. The shrinking vestibular schwannoma. Br J Neurosurg 2019:1– 2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Oberg, I, Price, S. Nurse-led telephone clinics improve patient satisfaction and enhance follow-up for benign/low grade tumour patients. Neuro Oncol 2017;19:i10–iCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casey, RG, Powell, L, Braithwaite, M, Booth, CM, Sizer, B, Corr, JG. Nurse-led phone call follow-up clinics are effective for patients with prostate cancer. J Patient Exp 2017;4:114–20CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jayakody, A, Bryant, J, Carey, M, Hobden, B, Dodd, N, Sanson-Fisher, R. Effectiveness of interventions utilising telephone follow up in reducing hospital readmission within 30 days for individuals with chronic disease: a systematic review. BMC Health Serv Res 2016;16:403CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Andres, E, Talha, S, Zulfiqar, AA, Hajjam, M, Erve, S, Hajjam, J et al. Current research and new perspectives of telemedicine in chronic heart failure: narrative review and points of interest for the clinician. J Clin Med 2018;7:544CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Liptrott, S, Bee, P, Lovell, K. Acceptability of telephone support as perceived by patients with cancer: a systematic review. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl) 2018;27CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jufas, N, Flanagan, S, Biggs, N, Chang, P, Fagan, P. Quality of life in vestibular schwannoma patients managed by surgical or conservative approaches. Otol Neurotol 2015;36:1245–54CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kim, HJ, Jin Roh, K, Oh, HS, Chang, WS, Moon, IS. Quality of life in patients with vestibular schwannomas according to management strategy. Otol Neurotol 2015;36:1725–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed