Quality of life in children with Robin Sequence

Oral health-related quality of life in patients with cleft lip and/or palate or Robin sequence

PURPOSE

To compare the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in patients with cleft lip and/or palate or Robin sequence versus a healthy control group using the Child Oral Health Impact Profile (COHIP-G19). Factors such as age, gender, and cleft type were considered.

METHODS

Over an 8-month period, the OHRQoL was surveyed by using the COHIP-G19 questionnaire. Included were patients with a craniofacial disorder (n = 61; average age 11.24 years) and a healthy control group (n = 70, average age 12.63 years) for a total of 131 patients (average age 11.99 years) from the Department of Orthodontics University Hospital Tübingen, Germany. These were divided into two age groups (6-11 years; 12-18 years).

RESULTS

Statistically, patients with a craniofacial disorder presented a significantly lower OHRQoL than the control group (p = 0.0055). In the craniofacial disorder group, older patients revealed a significantly (p = 0.005) lower OHRQoL than the younger patients. Female patients showed in nearly all groups a better OHRQoL than male patients, but this difference was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Males with a craniofacial disorder scored significantly lower than males without (p = 0.016); females showed no differences between the groups. Visibility, location, and severity of the craniofacial malformation did not have a significant influence on the OHRQoL.

CONCLUSION

The occurrence of a craniofacial malformation impacted the OHRQoL especially in older and male affected patients, unrelated to the expression level or localization. An early instruction about oral health, rehabilitation and functional training should be considered in therapy.

Quality of Life in Children and Adolescents with Stickler Syndrome in Spain

Objective: To describe the quality of life and daily functioning of Spanish children and adolescents living with Stickler syndrome (SS) and to estimate the prevalence of associated disease features in a representative sample. Methods: A cross-sectional study of children and adolescents with SS were recruited via telephone calls through the Spanish SS Association. All participants underwent a structured clinical interview and filled in questionnaires reporting their quality of life (EuroQol-5D, TSK-11, CHAQ and PedsQoL). The prevalence of the main features associated with the syndrome and the mean scores of the questionnaires were estimated with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: The recruited sample included 26 persons who were mainly children (mean age 10.4 ± 4.5 (SD) range: 5–14) and male (65.4%). The prevalence estimates of SS features were as follows: the presence of moderate pain (52%), hearing loss 67% (95% CI: 54.8 to 91.3) and myopia 96% (95% CI: 87.2 to 104.4). The mean scores of the QoL indices were as follows: 22.4 (95% CI: 19.2 to 25.5) (±7.5) for TSK-11; 76.2 (95% CI: 68.8 to 83.6) (±17.1) for PedsQoL, 0.8 (95% CI: 0.7 to 0.9) (±0.3) for EQ-5D and 0.61 (95% CI: 0.24 to 1.0) (±0.9) for the cHAQ functional index. Conclusions: Our results confirmed a high variability in syndrome-related manifestations, with a large prevalence of visual and hearing deficits, pain and maxillofacial alterations. These findings may facilitate the detection of the most prevalent problems in this population, which could be a target to be addressed during the treatment of children and adolescents with SS.

Managing infants with craniofacial malformations - Where to go next?

Treatment of infants with craniofacial malformations, e.g. Robin sequence, is characterized by considerable heterogeneity and a lack of randomized trials to identify an optimal approach. We propose to establish an international register using a common minimal dataset that will better allow for a comparison between key determinants and outcomes in these patients. In infants, this should include an assessment of mandibular micrognathia, glossoptosis, upper airway obstruction, weight gain and mode of feeding. Later on, neurocognition, speech development, hearing and quality of life should also be included. Together, these data will help better to advice parents on which treatment to choose for their baby with a craniofacial malformation.

Family Experience With Pierre Robin Sequence: A Qualitative Study

OBJECTIVE

To identify concepts and constructs important to parents of children with Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS).

DESIGN

Qualitative study.

SETTING

All children received some care at a tertiary hospital with additional care at outside facilities. Interviews were conducted in nonclinical locations, including remote locations.

PARTICIPANTS

Parents of children <5 years old with a diagnosis of PRS. Prior treatments included observation, positioning, nasal trumpet, mandibular distraction osteogenesis, tracheostomy, and gastrostomy.

INTERVENTION

Semi-structured interviews with individuals (4) and with groups (focus groups, 4) were conducted using open-ended questions and non-leading prompts. Transcripts were analyzed with iterative open and axial coding. Concepts and constructs were identified and refined into codes and central themes. Interviews were conducted until thematic saturation was achieved.

RESULTS

Sixteen parents were interviewed. Their experiences were coded into 5 main themes, which can be summarized as: (1) child's symptoms/well-being, (2) parents' grief/isolation, (3) family stress, (4) relationships with providers, and (5) psychological and technical growth. Difficulty with feeding, weight gain, and breathing problems were core physical issues described by participants with associated intense fear. Participants described frustration from not only lack of care coordination, slow diagnoses, and poor communication but also gratitude for providers who served as advocates. Participants described gradual development of knowledge/competencies.

CONCLUSIONS

Families of children with PRS have experiences that profoundly affect their lives. Child's physical symptoms/well-being and parents' psychosocial well-being provide content for a future PRS-specific quality-of-life instrument. Concepts that emerged also provide a framework to improve parents' experience and enhance their children's quality of care.

Can telemetry data obviate the need for sleep studies in Pierre Robin Sequence?

OBJECTIVE

This study looks to correlate telemetry data gathered on patients with Pierre Robin Sequence (PRS) with sleep study data. Strong correlation might allow obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) to be reasonably predicted without the need for sleep study.

METHODS

Charts from forty-six infants with PRS who presented to our children's hospital between 2005 and 2015 and received a polysomnogram (PSG) prior to surgical intervention were retrospectively reviewed. Correlations and scatterplots were used to compare average daily oxygen nadir, overall oxygen nadir, and average number of daily desaturations from telemetry data with apnea-hypopnea index (AHI) and oxygen nadir on sleep study. Results were also categorized into groups of AHI ≥ or <10 and oxygen nadir ≥ or <80% for chi-squared analysis.

RESULTS

Our data did not show significant correlations between telemetry data and sleep study data. Patients with O2 nadir below 80% on telemetry were not more likely to have an O2 nadir below 80% on sleep study. Patients with an average O2 nadir below 80% did show some correlation with having an AHI greater than 10 on sleep study but this relationship did not reach significance. Of 22 patients who did not have any desaturations on telemetry below 80%, 16 (73%) had an AHI >10 on sleep study.

CONCLUSIONS

In the workup of infants with PRS, the index of suspicion is high for OSA. In our series, telemetry data was not useful in ruling out severe OSA. Thus our data do not support forgoing sleep study in patients with PRS and concern for OSA despite normal telemetry patterns.