Increasing Use of Telemedicine for Neurological Disorders During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Mini-Review

Figures & data

Table 1 Application of Telemedicine in Major Neurological Disorders

Neurological Disorders	Current Status or Tips
Stroke	The earliest uses of telemedicine in neurological disorders^Citation16 Currently the most successful application of telemedicine^Citation17 Outcome of rt-PA treatment via telestroke is comparable to those achieved with in-person evaluations^Citation8
Epilepsy or seizure	Doctors can adjust anti-epilepsy drugs use via telemedicine^Citation22 Telephone review is non-inferior to in-person review in terms of patients’ cost and the number of patients retained in follow-up^Citation23
Alzheimer disease (AD)	Telemedicine and related technologies (domotics, virtual reality, augmented reality, or gaming) have been applied as non-pharmacological treatment for AD even before the COVID-19 pandemic^Citation24 Telemedicine was regarded valuable in providing assessment and care to dementia patients at home^Citation25,Citation26
Parkinson disease (PD)	Telemedicine approaches can help PD patients continue exercise and physical therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic^Citation28 A well-established supra-hospital telephone service for PD patients may effectively reduce the need for in-person consultation^Citation31
Neuropsychiatry	Many psychiatric organizations in the US have issued new or updated guidelines on the use of telemedicine^Citation35 Telemedicine has been shown to be noninferior to in-person visits for diagnosing dementia in geriatric populations, and can be used to perform differential diagnoses of cognitive vs psychiatric diseases^Citation33,Citation34

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