hydrocephalus

This is Roopa mother of a cute baby boy whose now 16 months old. He is an extreme premature baby born at 29weeks he was in ventilator for almost 2months since birth after 2months of birth he got infection in brain later he got hydrocephalus now he’s living with a VP shunt he underwent two surgeries in a year, now the problem the shunt which is put on the right side of his head is working fine csf is draining but we recently found in MRI scan that his left side has more CSF and there is no communication between the right and the left ventricles so Dr. suggested to go for another VP shunt on his left side of the head, we consulted another Dr. he says as of now left side shunt is not required let’s wait and see, we are in a dilemma please help us.

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Hi, Thank you for your question. Hydrocephalus is a condition in which the cerebrospinal fluid gets abnormally accumulated in the brain cavities.  This may cause increased intra cranial pressure leading to headache, convulsions, mental disability etc. It is constantly being formed in the ventricles of brain and drained out to circulatory system through special foramens. Hydrocephalus occurs due to either blockage of these foramens or overproduction of CSF. The treatment of hydrocephalus is surgical shunt placement. An alternative treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus is endoscopic third ventriculostomy but it may not be applicable to all patients depending upon internal anatomy of brain. Hope this information proved helpful.

[bharath1987]

Hi Anurag,

I am Bharath, my younger brother ( 21 years ) recently met with and accident and had a severe head trauma and has subrochonied heomrage, his condition was very critical and also had a csf leakage from ears and with a great dificulty everything was got under control,after 10 days on we underwent a plastic surgery due fracture in his jaw.

Post hospitalization ( 20 days he was in hospital) exactly after 30  days he started saying head ache and on our vist to doc we got to know it was due to excess csf buildup.

We were said it is due to acquired hydrocephalus ( moderate hydrocephalus non-obstructing ) and placed a shunt on 24th September,2012.

I want to understand the complications of shunt and want to know can he live a normal life. ( study,work, marriage)

Please suggest the precautions and care that needs to be taken.

Your suggestion and expert opinion will be a great help

Bharath