As we look back on this tumultuous year, it’s encouraging to reflect on what the Foundation has been able to accomplish with the unwavering support of this community.
- Symposium: Our third annual Cedars-Sinai Intracranial Hypotension Symposium was held on February 8, 2020, in partnership with the Foundation. Medical professionals, patients, caregivers, and others attended, and sessions were recorded for those unable to be there in person. You can see those videos here.
- Patient stories: We filmed five new patient stories this year, bringing our total number of stories to 13 video stories with accompanying narrative, and 10 narrative stories. We also created audio versions of several of our stories that had previously been text only. Watch and read our patient stories here.
- Research: Two research grants were awarded by the Foundation during the 2019–2020 fiscal year. For more information, see https://spinalcsfleak.org/ochsner-investigators-2020-research-grant/ and https://spinalcsfleak.org/2020-research-grant-duke-investigators/
- Abstracts: Our library of research abstracts has been updated. You can see them here.
And finally, and most importantly:
- ICD-10 codes: Afteryears of effort by Medical Advisory Board chair Dr. Connie Deline and key opinion leaders, specific ICD-10 diagnostic codes for intracranial hypotension and spinal CSF leak were approved and implemented this October. This is critical for research, accuracy of medical records, insurance reimbursement of testing and treatments, and disability benefits. This may be the Foundation’s most important achievement to date, as it will have a measurable and long-lasting effect on the lives of people experiencing spinal CSF leak as well as those physicians who treat them. A summary of these codes is available here.
Despite the challenges of this harrowing year, there is a lot to celebrate, and we look forward to making even more progress in 2021. Thanks to everyone who has supported us this year and every year!