Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
NPH symptoms reportedly improve in 70–90% of patients with CSF shunt. Risk-benefit analyses have shown beyond any doubt that surgery for NPH is far better than conservative treatment or the natural course. [ 22 ]
Shunts fail, typically by obstruction – a life-threatening medical condition requiring the surgical replacement of the shunt. The symptoms of shunt failure are non-specific – headache, nausea, lethargy – so diagnostic tests must be conducted to rule in or rule out surgery.
The CSF tap test, sometimes lumbar tap test or Miller Fisher Test, is a medical test that is used to decide whether shunting of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) would be helpful in a patient with suspected normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH).
Shunt obstruction is the most common cause of shunt failure. The shunt can be obstructed at the catheter or the valve itself. Cases of shunt obstruction would present with similar symptoms to untreated hydrocephalus (headaches, nausea, lethargy, etc.). It can be caused by tissue, bacteria, or kinking of the catheter.
Aqueductal stenosis is a narrowing of the aqueduct of Sylvius which blocks the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricular system.Blockage of the aqueduct can lead to hydrocephalus, specifically as a common cause of congenital and/or obstructive hydrocephalus.
The drainage provided by a shunt can alleviate or prevent these problems in patients with hydrocephalus or related diseases. Shunts come in a variety of forms, but most of them consist of a valve housing connected to a catheter, the lower end of which is usually placed in the peritoneal cavity. The main differences between shunts are usually in ...
Symptoms may resolve in as little as two weeks, or persist for months. [32] Less commonly, patients may have unremitting symptoms for many years. [23] [32] [42] [57] People with chronic sCSFLS may be disabled and unable to work. [24] [28] Recurrent CSF leak at an alternate site after recent repair is common. [88]
Shunt surgery was introduced in 1949; initially, ventriculoperitoneal shunts were used. In 1971, good results were reported with lumboperitoneal shunting. Negative reports on shunting in the 1980s led to a brief period (1988–1993) during which optic nerve fenestration (which had initially been described in an unrelated condition in 1871) was ...