Our file:
1. Bastia: cytomegalovirus in the sights of the medical profession
2. At Bastia hospital, ultrasound becomes synchronized
Amélie* drove an hour and a half from the Corsica Center to get to her appointment with Dr. Harold Jelen, an obstetrician-gynecologist at theBastia hospital. But this time the ultrasound performed is a little different from those she has already performed during her pregnancy follow-up. Because Amélie contracted cytomegalovirusa infection which could reach the fetal brain, and this Friday, October 4, she finally had to know if it would have an impact on her baby.
In the small consultation room of the gynecology department, the usual ultrasound machine has given way to a latest generation device developed by Samsung. Dr Jellen undertakes the auscultation but he is not alone. On the other hand, at the Necker Enfants Malades hospital in Paris, Dr Claire Colmant scrupulously follows the details of the ultrasound images.
Equipped with the same connected device, she attends the consultation in real time. “Claire, do you see my image?” Harold Jelen asks him when analyzing the baby’s brain. “I have access to its images, its touch screen and the different buttons allowing you to adjust the machine. I can control what it does, direct it when there are specific things I want to see and for advice, I can communicate directly with the patient, specifies Dr. Colemant. I just don’t have access to the ultrasound probe and his hand.” The synchronized tele-expertise completed, the two practitioners are categorical: “The infection occurred late and did not reach the baby. The image is unremarkable, there are no abnormalities.” Something to reassure Amélie: “Being able to obtain feedback from a specialist on the subject with experts from establishments like Necker is very reassuring. And it allowed me to avoid having to travel back and forth to Paris by plane.”
Assistance with antenatal diagnosis
Synchronized tele-expertise has been tested between Necker and Bastia for a year and a half. “This technology is of particular interest in Corsica, since insularity and isolation make travel expensive, time-consuming, anxiety-provoking and sometimes not even always feasible,” underlines Harold Jelen. It is therefore a real support in the context of antenatal diagnosis. “As soon as we have a doubt in the imaging that could be resolved remotely without having to bring the patient on site, we use this tool, indicates the gynecologist. This also allows me to progress at my level. If I want to see some very particular structures, I can ask my colleague to take the hand and show them to me.”
For the obstetrician, tele-expertise could also be used at the local level: “We could imagine that a midwife sonographer from Porto-Vecchio for example, asks me as a reference sonographer to give an opinion on an image that she would have difficulty interpreting.” And since the Bastia hospital generally collaborates with the Marseille and Nice university hospitals, the obstetrician now hopes that the technology will be deployed in the near future.
* The first name has been changed.
