Author: Joshua Alexander
The family of a 5 year-old boy with cerebral palsy was going to miss his doctor visit because they could not find reliable transportation to the large medical center 2 and ? hours away. But they had some important concerns so they used North Carolina?s new Early Intervention Videoconferencing Network.
They went to their local Developmental Evaluation Center (DEC), which was only 10 minutes away, and had a telemedicine visit with the doctor instead.
While their main concern was the boy?s feeding problems, his mother mentioned during the visit that she had recently noticed some drooping of the right side of his face. This drooping did not involve any other part of his body, but she was concerned about it since this was something new.
The doctor at the medical center was able to look at the boy?s face by using the video camera to zoom in closely and he agreed that the right side of the boy?s face looked different than it had several months before when the family had been in his office. He felt that this was either a case of Bell?s Palsy (a condition where the muscles of the face temporarily weaken or become paralyzed) or a localized stroke, and told his mother that he should be seen by a pediatric neurology doctor.
With the mother?s permission, the doctor took a digital picture of the boy?s face and sent the photo by e-mail to one of the pediatric neurology doctors for his review. The boy was soon seen by a pediatric neurologist who agreed with the diagnosis of Bell?s Palsy and began treating the boy for this condition.
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