Matson Lecture: Dr. Alan Cohen and Top-Rated Pediatric Abstracts-Matson Lecture: Dr. Alan Cohen and Top-Rated Pediatric Abstracts

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Video Summary

The pediatric scientific session began with Dr. Matt Smith acknowledging Dr. Al Cohen’s significant contributions to pediatric neurosurgery. Dr. Cohen delivered the prestigious 2025 Mattson Lecture, reflecting on Don Mattson's legacy and discussing the dangers of medical misinformation, particularly online. He emphasized how misinformation can hinder patient trust, relying on examples from his own practice, like a family's decision to pursue unverified treatments online leading to detrimental outcomes. Dr. Cohen also touched on challenges presented by the rapid growth of the internet and social media's role in spreading false information. He suggested improving oversight, reforming algorithms, and revising legal protections to combat misinformation.<br /><br />Following the lecture, several pediatric abstracts were presented. Ahmed Massoud examined outcomes in pediatric severe TBI, emphasizing the benefits of surgical interventions, particularly decompression surgeries, over ICP monitoring, which were associated with longer hospital stays but no survival benefit.<br /><br />Charlie Fleming's research explored the role of TNF in pediatric TBIs, showing that inhibiting detrimental TNF pathways could prevent adverse inflammation effects without affecting normal brain development.<br /><br />Sagar Koirala discussed the impact of training at Boston Children's Hospital on establishing a pediatric neurosurgery unit in Nepal, sharing insights into improving surgical protocols and introducing multidisciplinary approaches in resource-limited settings.<br /><br />Ahmed Albayomi analyzed pediatric spinal injuries in the US, noting a decrease in injuries over time but highlighting persistent racial and gender disparities.<br /><br />Finally, Hassan Akbari presented findings on headache relief following posterior fossa decompression in Chiari malformation patients, identifying characteristic headaches that predict surgical success.<br /><br />These discussions highlighted the importance of evidence-based treatments, challenges in adopting new techniques across diverse settings, and the internet's role both in spreading medical innovations and misinformation.

Keywords

pediatric neurosurgery

medical misinformation

pediatric TBI

TNF pathways

surgical interventions

social media

Chiari malformation

spinal injuries

evidence-based treatments

multidisciplinary approaches

racial disparities

internet challenges