Consultation with the Netherlands Committee on Bone Tumors (NCBT) can be considered in any phase of the diagnostic proces.
According to The Bone Tumors Guidelines in the Netherlands consultation with the Dutch Bone Tumors Committee is recommended if there is any doubt about radiological (differential) diagnosis. This may prevent unnecessary diagnostic procedures and delay in treatment. It is particularly important to complete diagnostic imaging before an invasive (biopsy) procedure is planned. If there is any clinical and radiological suspicion of a primary malignant bone tumor, the biopsy should take place in the designated specialized referral bone tumor center.
A recommendation of the NCBT is substantiated as much as possible and always shared in a written report to the external physician. Sometimes a member of the Committee may contact the referring practitioner (by telephone or E-mail) to clarify the advice. The Committee does not interfere with the primary doctor-patient relationship regarding decision making and treatment.
Whether or not to follow the recommendations provided by the NCBT and associated consequences are at the expense and risk of the practitioner/consultant. In the absence of a legal relationship with the patient as such, the NCBT is not liable for claims from patients.
There are two different options for consultation:
I. By submission of radiological imaging (plain radiographs, CT, MRI, nuclear medicine etc.), combined with relevant clinical information a radiological differential diagnosis can be requested with or without recommendation for the external physician (regarding policy of treatment, follow-up etc.). These requests are taken into considertion weekly.
II. By submission off histopathological material (either from biopsy, curettage tissue, resected specimen, etc.), combined with radiological imaging and relevant clinical information, complete documented cases can be discussed in multidisciplinary plenary meetings of the NCBT, which are being held twice a month.
Submitting specifications:
When requesting a consultation you are kindly requested to provide
Clinical information: including relevant history details, (duration of) complaints, etc., sent digitally cvb@lumc.nl.
Radiological examinations: including all relevant conventional X-ray examinations, CT, MRI and Nuclear Medicine examinations, if any, submitted digitally (for example WeTransfer) or on CD-rom.
Histology material: submit all relevant original slides, all relevant paraffin blocks, and original pathology-report (incluiding full moleculair report), with English translation of relevant items.
Send the material to:
LUMC
Committee on Bone Tumors
C2-S
PO BOX 9600
2300 RC Leiden
The Netherlands