Re: Comforting Article - Rick

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much for this Rick.

It really did comfort us!

Robin (mom to Owen 7 1/2 mo., plagio, tort and mild hemifacial

microsomia, and to Hayden 2 yrs.)

> http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstract & list_uids=15466093

>

> I learned about the above study from the plagio site, and

wanted to learn more about it. Although I'm not an M.D. --I'm a

psychologist - I am a professor in a medical school so I have access

to all of these journals. Before work today, I went to our library

and read the whole article. Here is a summary:

>

> 1) They followed the same group of kids from birth to age 2 years

old. About 90% made it to the two-year follow-up.

> 2) The measurements to identify a " case " described in the abstract

were based on visual inspection. That is, raters determined the

minimum amount of head distortion that could be detected by the

naked eye, and that's how they came up with the cutoff scores

mentioned in the abstract.

> 3) *No* treatment was provided. No helmets and no PT. The point

was to see what happens " naturally " over a two-year period.

> 4) Although about 20% were " cases " at age 4 months old, only about

3% remained " cases " at age 2 years old. That is, the vast majority

of " cases " improved to the point where nobody would be able to tell

that anything was " wrong " at age 2.

> 5) Although parents expressed worries about head shape earlier in

the study, *none* expressed any concerns at age 2. Presumably for

the kids who remained " cases " , enough improvement was seen that the

parents were no longer concerned about it.

> 6) Even the most extreme case in the study showed some

improvement.

>

>

> To me, this study was reassuring in the sense that it suggests

that some degree of improvement with time is very likely, and that

the vast majority may improve to the point where abnormalities are

not detectable at all by age two.

>

>

> So it seems to me there is reason for optimism because most of us

are banding or repositioning. But even doing " nothing " is likely to

result in improvement according to this study.

>

> Rick

[Guest guest]

Still...parents please REPOSITION your child OFF the flat spot

especially during the nightime.

That articles seems overly optimistic to me, sorry.

My son is now three years old and his flat spot really did not

improve a whole lot. We did repositioning from 5 months old

onwards, no helmet. I would say it was " mild " to " low moderate " at

that time with no facial assymetry and it is now " mild " . Thankfully

it was not any worse because I really expected it to be gone at this

point and it isn't!

I think keeping an eye on their sleeping position is key. If they

keep laying on the flat spot at night it will not get better.

Good luck, Jan.

> > http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?

> cmd=Retrieve & db=pubmed & dopt=Abstract & list_uids=15466093

> >

> > I learned about the above study from the plagio site, and

> wanted to learn more about it. Although I'm not an M.D. --I'm a

> psychologist - I am a professor in a medical school so I have

access

> to all of these journals. Before work today, I went to our

library

> and read the whole article. Here is a summary:

> >

> > 1) They followed the same group of kids from birth to age 2

years

> old. About 90% made it to the two-year follow-up.

> > 2) The measurements to identify a " case " described in the

abstract

> were based on visual inspection. That is, raters determined the

> minimum amount of head distortion that could be detected by the

> naked eye, and that's how they came up with the cutoff scores

> mentioned in the abstract.

> > 3) *No* treatment was provided. No helmets and no PT. The

point

> was to see what happens " naturally " over a two-year period.

> > 4) Although about 20% were " cases " at age 4 months old, only

about

> 3% remained " cases " at age 2 years old. That is, the vast

majority

> of " cases " improved to the point where nobody would be able to

tell

> that anything was " wrong " at age 2.

> > 5) Although parents expressed worries about head shape earlier

in

> the study, *none* expressed any concerns at age 2. Presumably for

> the kids who remained " cases " , enough improvement was seen that

the

> parents were no longer concerned about it.

> > 6) Even the most extreme case in the study showed some

> improvement.

> >

> >

> > To me, this study was reassuring in the sense that it suggests

> that some degree of improvement with time is very likely, and that

> the vast majority may improve to the point where abnormalities are

> not detectable at all by age two.

> >

> >

> > So it seems to me there is reason for optimism because most of

us

> are banding or repositioning. But even doing " nothing " is likely

to

> result in improvement according to this study.

> >

> > Rick

[Guest guest]

Thanks. Fortunately he never sleeps on his flat spot now. Once he started rolling over about 3 weeks ago, he stopped sleeping on his back entirely and just sleeps on his stomach or side. He rolls to those positions on his own. Every time we check on him during the night, he's in one of those positions now. So, I'm more optimistic some improvement may occur now, but if it doesn't, we'll probably get a helmet at 6.5 months.

Re: Comforting Article - Rick

<Snip> I think keeping an eye on their sleeping position is key. If they keep laying on the flat spot at night it will not get better. Good luck, Jan.