French virtual multidisciplinary team meeting for pediatric movement disorders (PMD-vMDT): a three-year survey

TL;DR

A French virtual team meeting for pediatric movement disorders improved diagnosis and treatment decisions for children over three years.

Contribution

Demonstrates the effectiveness of a virtual multidisciplinary team approach for managing pediatric movement disorders.

Findings

Semiological categorization was revised in 40% of submitted cases.

70% found the meeting helpful for diagnosis, and 80% for etiological workup.

Treatment was modified in 68% of cases based on recommendations.

Abstract

Since 2018, a French virtual multidisciplinary team meeting (vMDT), dedicated to discussing the semiological, diagnostical, and therapeutic management of children with movement disorders (MD) has been established, based on medical history and video recordings. Participants included physicians and paramedics involved in the management of pediatric MD (PMD) from France and French-speaking countries. Our aim was to explore how the participants who submitted cases experienced and perceived the process by evaluating overall satisfaction, impact of the PMD-vMDT recommendations on patients’ outcome according to semiological, diagnostic or therapeutic opinion request.

A qualitative assessment of the PMD-vMDT was carried out using a standardized questionnaire sent to physicians who submitted a case between 2021 and 2024.

We received 83 responses from 46 different practitioners out of 130 cases with requests concerning combined semiological opinion (24 cases), semiological/diagnostic opinion (61 cases), combined therapeutic opinion (65 cases). Semiological categorization of the MD was revised or implemented in 40% of the submitted cases. PMD-vMDT was perceived as helpful for diagnosis decision-making and for etiological workup by 70 and 80% of the respondents, respectively. v PMD-vMDT diagnosis recommendations were implemented by 94% of the respondents, and treatment was modified based on PMD-vMDT in 68% of cases. Overall satisfaction was high, with a mean score of 9.1/10; 89% of the respondents considered that the PMD-vMDT contributed to improvement of their understanding and management of pediatric movement disorders.

This survey highlights the relevance of this pioneering PMD-vMDT for decision-making, patient management, and pedagogical impact.

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