Detail

Keywords

Cerebellar Neoplasms; Child Psychology; Cognition; Neurofibromatosis 1; Neurooncology; Neuropsychological Tests; Neuropsychology; Social Participation

Research group(s)

• Neuropsychosocial Team
  Members:
  Thomas Pletschko

Research interests

Participation in everyday life is a key element to a good quality of life. Patients with chronic illnesses, especially children with impaired neurocognitive functioning often suffer from participation restrictions. Therefore, my primary research focus lies on the development of ICF-based methods measuring participation and neurocognitive functioning of pediatric CNS-tumor patients and patients with neurofibromatosis type I. A comprehensive "standard of care" neuropsychological assessment and neuropsychological therapy seems to be of utmost importance in oncological aftercare. Therefore, my research is directed at understanding the neuropsychological, biological and genetic mechanisms behind functional impairments, with a special interest in cerebellar tumors and neurofibromatosis.   

Techniques, methods & infrastructure

Pletschko, T., Schwarzinger, A., Weiler, L. & Leiss, U. (2015). Partizipationsskalen (PS 24/7). Available at: http://kinderklinik.meduniwien.ac.at/fileadmin/kinderklinik/Psych-SA_Neo/PS24-7/Handbuch.pdf

Selected publications

1. Pletschko, T., Lamplmair, D., Felnhofer, A., Slavc, I. & Leiss, U. (in prep.). Neurocognitive outcome after cerebellar pilocytic astrocytoma tumor resection during childhood.
2. Pletschko, T., Schwarzinger, A., Lehner, J., Traunwieser, T., Fidler, I., Kastner-Koller, U., Deimann, P., Slavc, I. & Leiss. U. (in prep.). Parents beliefs on the school participation of pediatric CNS-tumor patients and children with other chronic illnesses: an ICF-based multicenter controlled trial. Pediatric Blood and Cancer.
3. Pletschko, T., Felnhofer, A., Schwarzinger, A., Weiler, L., Slavc, I. & Leiss, U. (submitted). Introducing the ICF-CY in Pediatric Neurooncology: Suggestions for filling the gap between neurocognitive tests and everyday life participation. Journal of Pediatric Psychology.
4. Tallen, G., Resch, A., Calaminus, G., Wiener, A., Leiss, U., Pletschko, T., ... & Rutkowski, S. on behalf of the German Paediatric Brain Tumour Consortium (HIT-Network). (2015, in press). Towards the Diagnosis "Future" - Strategies to improve the quality of survival for childhood brain tumour survivors. European Journal of Pediatric Neurology.
5. Pletschko, T., Gmoser, S., Leeb, L., Schwarzinger, A., Slavc, I. & Leiss, U. (2013). Advantages of an ICF-based approach in school-reintegration of pediatric brain tumor patients: the Participation Scales 24/7. Journal of Cancer Therapy, 4 (4).