title: Evaluation of children with lymphatic malformations of the head and neck using the Cologne Disease Score.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the disease-related impairments of children with lymphatic malformations of the head and neck and their changes after therapy using the Cologne Disease Score (CDS).
  
  
  METHODS
  29 children with lymphatic malformations of the head and neck were evaluated regarding their symptoms before and after therapy using the CDS. The Wilcoxon test for dependent groups was used to compare the CDS at initial visit before treatment and last visit after treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The CDS of patients belonging to the moderate (initial CDS: more than eight points) and advanced disease group (initial CDS: five, six or seven points) significantly increased after therapy while the patients in the severe disease group (initial CDS: lower than four points) showed no significant improvement of CDS. Patients with stage IV and especially stage V lymphatic malformations according to de Serres showed considerably lower pre- and posttherapeutic CDS levels than those of stage I and II.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The visual impairment is not mapped by the CDS, therefore item vision should be added to the CDS to make an evaluation of all lymphatic malformations of the head and neck possible. The present series could show that especially patients with a moderate or advanced disease according to the CDS may profit from therapeutic interventions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Philipps-University of Marburg, Deutschhausstr. 3, 35037 Marburg, Germany. swiegand@med.uni-marburg.de
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wiegand
authors.forename: Behfar
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Eivazi
authors.forename: Annette P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.forename: Andreas M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sesterhenn
authors.forename: Jochen A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Werner
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005145:Face / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D053685:Laser Therapy; D044148:Lymphatic Abnormalities / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D009333:Neck / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000601:surgery; D009915:Orbit / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000601:surgery; D010844:Picibanil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015911:Sclerotherapy / Q000379:methods; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D010844:Picibanil