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Object

Various bibliometric indices are now commonly used to assess academic productivity in medicine. Some evidence suggests that these measures are specific to subspecialty areas. The authors' goal was to measure thehindex of academic pediatric neurosurgeons and compare it with previously reported results for academic neurosurgeons in general.

开云体育世界杯赔率

Programs with an Accreditation Council for Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowships–approved fellowship were identified, and thehandgindices of each of their surgeons were calculated. These were correlated with academic rank and compared with published literature on academic neurosurgical departments.

Results

Seventy-two pediatric neurosurgeons had a meanhindex of 16.6 and a meangindex of 29.5. Both indices increased with progressive academic rank. The rank-specific mean index for academic pediatric neurosurgeons was similar to that of neurosurgeons from academic departments in general.

Conclusions

Overall, the authors conclude that thehindex metric is a reasonable measure of academic productivity in the pediatric neurosurgery arena that provides a robust measure of an individual's contribution to the pediatric neurosurgery literature. Like its counterpart in neurosurgery in general, thehindex for pediatric neurosurgeons correlates with institutional rank. Thehindex calculation also reveals the productivity of the pediatric neurosurgeons to be on par with the productivity of neurosurgeons in general.

Object

Previous reports suggest that adjustable valves may improve the survival of cerebrospinal fluid shunts or relieve shunt-related symptoms. To evaluate these claims, the authors conducted a prospective multicenter cohort study of children who underwent placement of Strata valves.

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Patients undergoing initial shunt placement (Group 1) or shunt revision (Group 2) were treated using Strata valve shunt systems. Valves were adjustable to five performance level settings by using an externally applied magnet. The performance levels were checked using an externally applied hand tool and radiography. Patients were followed for 1 year or until they underwent shunt revision surgery.

Between March 2000 and February 2002, 315 patients were enrolled in the study. In Group 1 (201 patients) the common causes of hydrocephalus were myelomeningocele (16%), aqueductal stenosis (14%), and hemorrhage (14%). The overall 1-year shunt survival was 67%. Causes of shunt failure were obstruction (17%), overdrainage (1.5%), loculated ventricles (2%), and infection (10.6%). Patients in Group 2 (114 patients) were older and the causes of hydrocephalus were similar. Among patients in Group 2 the 1-year shunt survival was 71%.

There were 256 valve adjustments. Symptoms completely resolved (26%) or improved (37%) after 63% of adjustments. When symptoms improved or resolved, they did so within 24 hours in 89% of adjustments. Hand-tool and radiographic readings of valve settings were the same in 234 (98%) of 238 assessments.

Conclusions

The 1-year shunt survival for the Strata valve shunt system when used in initial shunt insertion procedures or shunt revisions was similar to those demonstrated for other valves. Symptom relief or improvement following adjustment was observed in 63% of patients. Hand-tool assessment of performance level settings reliably predicted radiographic assessments.