Telemedicine in neurosurgery: teleradiology connections in the Republic of Croatia.

In 1998, a teleradiology system was established in Croatia. It connects 34 CT, MRI and DSA scanners in 29 hospitals with a referral centre in the neurosurgery department in Zagreb. In the first three years of its use, the network saved more than 400,000 km of patient transportation (i.e. without a teleconsultation, all of the patients would have had to be transported to the nearest referral neurosurgical unit). During the first seven years, an archive with 25,366 expert opinions was collected. A total of 7103 (28%) expert opinions were provided for the distant regional hospitals. The most common diagnoses for patients from regional hospitals were neurotrauma (53%), cerebrovascular diseases (22%) and brain tumours (19%). The teleradiology system was used less often for lumbar disc disease (4%), hydrocephalus or other neurosurgical disorders (2%). The most valuable results from teleradiology were the decisions about proper and effective patient treatment. In Croatia, the national teleradiology network for neurosurgery has speeded up therapy, avoided unnecessary travelling for patients and reduced costs.