Date:08/02/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/02/08/stories/2006020817200300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Neuroscience meet to focus on rehabilitation

Staff Reporter

Medico-legal issues in assessment of children will also be debated

CHENNAI: Neuroscience experts will discuss a host of issues ranging from the neuropsychological changes induced by general anaesthesia to specific diagnostic clues for young people with dementia at an international meet on neurosciences and rehabilitation starting here on Wednesday.

While the focus will be on aspects of neuro-rehabilitation, which is yet to keep pace with the advances in investigation and treatment of neurological disorders, other emerging issues such as medico-legal in the psychological assessment of children will also be debated.

The conference is being hosted by the World Federation for Neurorehabilitation (WFN), The Childs Trust Medical Research Foundation and State chapter of the Indian Academy of Paediatrics.

Experts will examine neurological problems such as head injury, brain trauma, epilepsy, stroke, dementia, memory deficit, autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder in all categories of patients, A. Andal, head of the department, Childs Trust Hospital and India coordinator for the event told a press conference.

"Dementia is no longer associated with merely the ageing process and in fact the sequela of the degenerative brain of the aged is identical to that of children with underdeveloped brain," said David Neary, Professor of Neurology, Manchester University, U.K."One of the stumbling blocks in early identification, treatment and rehabilitation of child patients in our society is the reluctance of parents or other family members to accept a development delay in the child," said B.S. Virudhagirinathan, organising secretary.

According to Mohan Sampathkumar, conference coordinator, the results of rehabilitation are best when the intervention is both early and multidisciplinary.

Michael Wang, neuropsychology professor at Leicestershire, U.K., pointed to a growing interest in a minority group of patients who developed neuropsychological symptoms either due to the effects of regional anaesthesia or some other flawed component of surgical care.

Basic similarities

Elise Rivlin, consultant, Central Manchester and Manchester Children's University Hospital, National Health Services Trust (NHS), U.K. said, while legal processes and laws vary in India and U.K., there were basic similarities regarding clinical examination, neuropsychological assessment, planning for rehabilitation and the use of multidisciplinary expertise.

Assessment of legal aspects of cases involving children has to take into account factors such as extent of brain injury, development level or whether the child is the sole survivor where he/she would face the challenge of coping alone, she said.