Browsing by Author "Quon, Jennifer L"

Filter results by typing the first few letters
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Early Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Neurosurgical Training in the United States: A Case Volume Analysis of 8 Programs.
    (World neurosurgery, 2021-01) Aljuboori, Zaid S; Young, Christopher C; Srinivasan, Visish M; Kellogg, Ryan T; Quon, Jennifer L; Alshareef, Mohammed A; Chen, Stephanie H; Ivan, Michael; Grant, Gerald A; McEvoy, Sean D; Davanzo, Justin R; Majid, Sonia; Durfy, Sharon; Levitt, Michael R; Sieg, Emily P; Ellenbogen, Richard G; Nauta, Haring J

    Objective

    To determine the impact of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on operative case volume in 8 U.S. neurosurgical residency training programs in early 2020 and to survey these programs regarding training activities during this period.

    Methods

    A retrospective review was conducted of monthly operative case volumes and types for 8 residency programs for 2019 and January through April 2020. Cases were grouped as elective cranial, elective spine, and nonelective emergent cases. Programs were surveyed regarding residents' perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on surgical training, didactics, and research participation. Data were analyzed for individual programs and pooled across programs.

    Results

    Across programs, the 2019 monthly mean ± SD case volume was 211 ± 82; 2020 mean ± SD case volumes for January, February, March, and April were 228 ± 93, 214 ± 84, 180 ± 73, and 107 ± 45. Compared with 2019, March and April 2020 mean cases declined 15% (P = 0.003) and 49% (P = 0.002), respectively. COVID-19 affected surgical case volume for all programs; 75% reported didactics negatively affected, and 90% reported COVID-19 resulted in increased research time. Several neurosurgery residents required COVID-19 testing; however, to our knowledge, only 1 resident from the participating programs tested positive.

    Conclusions

    This study documents a significant reduction in operative volume in 8 neurosurgery residency training programs in early 2020. During this time, neurosurgery residents engaged in online didactics and research-related activities, reporting increased research productivity. Residency programs should collect data to determine the educational impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on residents' operative case volumes, identify deficiencies, and develop plans to mitigate any effects.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Intracranial Artery Morphology in Pediatric Moya Moya Disease and Moya Moya Syndrome.
    (Neurosurgery, 2022-11) Yedavalli, Vivek S; Quon, Jennifer L; Tong, Elizabeth; van Staalduinen, Eric K; Mouches, Pauline; Kim, Lily H; Steinberg, Gary K; Grant, Gerald A; Yeom, Kristen W; Forkert, Nils D

    Background

    Moya Moya disease (MMD) and Moya Moya syndrome (MMS) are cerebrovascular disorders, which affect the internal carotid arteries (ICAs). Diagnosis and surveillance of MMD/MMS in children mostly rely on qualitative evaluation of vascular imaging, especially MR angiography (MRA).

    Objective

    To quantitatively characterize arterial differences in pediatric patients with MMD/MMS compared with normal controls.

    Methods

    MRA data sets from 17 presurgery MMD/MMS (10M/7F, mean age = 10.0 years) patients were retrospectively collected and compared with MRA data sets of 98 children with normal vessel morphology (49 male patients; mean age = 10.6 years). Using a level set segmentation method with anisotropic energy weights, the cerebral arteries were automatically extracted and used to compute the radius of the ICA, middle cerebral artery (MCA), anterior cerebral artery (ACA), posterior cerebral artery (PCA), and basilar artery (BA). Moreover, the density and the average radius of all arteries in the MCA, ACA, and PCA flow territories were quantified.

    Results

    Statistical analysis revealed significant differences comparing children with MMD/MMS and those with normal vasculature ( P < .001), whereas post hoc analyses identified significantly smaller radii of the ICA, MCA-M1, MCA-M2, and ACA ( P < .001) in the MMD/MMS group. No significant differences were found for the radii of the PCA and BA or any artery density and average artery radius measurement in the flow territories ( P > .05).

    Conclusion

    His study describes the results of an automatic approach for quantitative characterization of the cerebrovascular system in patients with MMD/MMS with promising preliminary results for quantitative surveillance in pediatric MMD/MMS management.