Evaluation of a Telemedicine Clinic for CADASIL patients.
Because CADASIL is a relatively rare disease it requires specialist services. Most countries have only a few specialist clinics which means patients may have to travel a long distance to see a specialist. To address this issue the Cambridge CADASIL group established and trialled a telemedicine service for CADASIL. This involved Skype methodology with consultations taking place in the patient’s own home. 114 patients with CADASIL were recruited. Patient and doctor satisfaction questionnaires rated the service to create a mean satisfaction score for both telemedicine follow up appointments and face to face follow up appointments. Comparison of the two showed that there was no difference in patient or clinician satisfaction between telemedicine and face to face appointments. Telemedicine appointments avoided long travelling times for many patients. The conclusion was that telemedicine follow up is suited to patients with CADASIL, and other similar rare neurological diseases, and has similar satisfaction levels to face to face consultation. Following this successful evaluation, funded by the Evelyn Trust, a clinical telemedicine follow up service has been instituted in the Cambridge CADASIL clinic.
Reference: Walsh J, Markus HS. Telemedicine for follow-up of rare neurological disease. Stroke. 2019; 50:750-753. Click here for PubMed abstract.