HAPPY NEW YEAR! It’s time again for our semi-annual newsletter. Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive of this practice. We remain committed to world-class patient care combined with research expertise. As such, we offer 24-hour availability of double board-certified neurosurgery and PICU/NICU nursing. The morbidity and mortality rates in the practice are among the lowest in the US. We are the only pediatric neurosurgical practice in central Florida with academic affiliations(adjunct professor at Florida State University School of Medicine). We continue to strive for excellence and appreciate your support.

We have recently remodeled the office, with each room having a child theme, e.g. Dr. Seuss, Dora the Explorer, etc, and new ease of access for wheel-chair bound patients. I continue to cover both level 1 PICUs in Orlando and am growing with the community. We have had an opportunity to meet many of you and your patients. It has truly been our pleasure to help alleviate many of the concerns parents and patients have when they walk into the neurosurgeon’s office.

I strive to publish at least annually in our peer-reviewed journals and to the right is the abstract to a recently published article. A sad but eye-opening case. Please don’t hesitate to contact me concerning any of your patients or concerns. Is the newsletter helpful or just more junk mail? How can we better serve you and your patients?
My cell phone # is (407) 448-3245

E-mail etrumble@neurosurgeons4kids.com

The authors describe the first documented case of transplacental transmission of metastatic melanoma to the neural axis. The patient was a 7 month old boy who presented with signs and symptoms of elevated intracranial pressure. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a 5x5x6cm inhomogeneously enhancing posterior fossa mass, filling the fourth ventricle. Posterior fossa craniotomy was performed. Pathology confirmed metastatic melanoma, with pathology identical to his mother’s. He received aggressive chemotherapy with repeat resection. He also required a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt for treatment of his hydrocephalus. He lived longer than any other case of trans-placental transmission of metastatic melanoma but ultimately succumbed to the disease, 18 months after his initial presentation.