Conference Participants

Deanna Fish, MS, CPO

The Clinical Standards of Practice (CSOP) Consensus Conference on Orthotic Management of Plagiocephaly met at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital in Dallas, April 7–9, 2004. Funded by the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists, with donations to the Academy's Project Quantum Leap, the purpose of this CSOP conference was to determine standards of care for the orthotic management of infants diagnosed with deformational plagiocephaly. The postoperative orthotic care of infants with craniosynostosis was also discussed.

Dr. Sterling Clarren, who was the first to document and publish on the use of cranial remolding orthoses, kindly provided the Foreword to this issue. Conference participants included nine orthotists, one physical therapist, one engineer and two physicians from around the country.

CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS:

William J. Barringer, MS, CO , Associate Professor, Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Oklahoma City, OK. Mr. Barringer presented on the use of postoperative cranial orthoses and the rehabilitation team management of craniosynostosis.

Wendy S. Biggs, MD , Assistant Professor, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine; Assistant Director, Midland Family Practice Residency, Midland, MI. As a family physician, Dr. Biggs noticed a dramatic increase in the number of infants presenting with deformational plagiocephaly. Her research began by investigating the cause of this "epidemic" and the wish to increase awareness of deformational plagiocephaly by family physicians.

Deanna Fish, MS, CPO (conference chair) , Orthomerica Products, Inc., Taylorsville, UT. Ms. Fish travels nationally providing educational conferences to allied healthcare professionals on the identification, prevention and orthotic management of infants diagnosed with deformational plagiocephaly.

Alex A. Kane, MD , Assistant Professor, Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO. Director, Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Deformities Institute, St. Louis Children's Hospital. Director, Craniofacial Imaging Laboratory.

Charles W. Kuffel, CPO, FAAOP , Craniofacial Society Member, Pongratz Orthotics and Prosthetics, Phoenix, AZ. Mr. Kuffel shared his knowledge and expertise on the developing infant skull as it relates to orthotic modeling concepts of cranial molding orthoses.

Jeff Larsen, CO , Senior Clinical Services, Gillette Children's Specialty Healthcare, Saint Paul, MN. Mr. Larsen was the project lead for the team that developed the CranioCap and acquired FDA clearance. He has also lectured on cranial orthosis treatment to multiple local physical therapy centers.

Dulcey Lima, CO, OTR/L (conference vice-chair) , Orthomerica Products, Inc., Lombard, IL. Ms. Lima lectures nationally and internationally in her role as Clinical Education Manager. She provided an extensive literature review on the orthotic management of infants diagnosed with deformational plagiocephaly.

Timothy Littlefield, MS , Cranial Technologies, Inc., Tempe, AZ. Mr. Littlefield contributed his expertise on FDA regulation of cranial molding orthoses and also provided recommendations for future research for this diverse patient population.

Colleen Coulter-O'Berry, PT, MS, PCS , Orthotics and Prosthetics Department, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA. Ms. Coulter-O'Berry is a Board Certified Clinical Specialist in Pediatric Physical Therapy. She is a member of the Cranial Remolding Team at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta evaluating and treating infants with torticollis and motor impairments related to deformational plagiocephaly. Colleen is a co-author of "Tummy Time Tools, A Developmentally Based Program to Incorporate Positioning, Handling and Fun Activities into the Lives of Young Infants."

Ammanath Peethambaran, MS, CO , University of Michigan Orthotics and Prosthetics Center, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ann Arbor, MI. Mr. Peethambaran provided insight into various modification procedures applied to the positive model.

Laura Hylton-Plank, CO , Cranial Remolding Program Leader, Orthotics and Prosthetics Department, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA. Currently, Ms. Plank has two works in press regarding the classification and severity of head shapes in deformational plagiocephaly.

Aaron J. Sorensen, CPO, MBA , President and CEO, Restorative Health Services, Nashville, TN. Mr. Sorensen's research into various casting procedures was presented at the conference.

Joseph Terpenning, CO , Eastern Cranial Affiliates, Arlington, VA. Mr. Terpenning presented information on different material properties used in the manufacturing of cranial remolding orthoses.