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Hydrocephalus & Arachnoid Cyst in Baby
by Yazmufc, Feb 25, 2008 01:23AM
Hi,
My son is due to be born this week (at 35 weeks) and he has been diagnosed with Hydrocephalus.
He was fine for the first 28 weeks with no symptoms of hydrocephalus and has since then showed increased CSF in 2 of his ventricles. One of them is now over 32mm in diameter. An MRI was done at the beginning of last week that shows that there is an arachnoid cyst present in his head.
I do not know the technical terms, but the cyst is in the "external" part of the brain right outside the point where the CSF exits the "internal" part of the brain. Hence, it is blocking most (but not all) of the CSF from exiting. The 4th ventricle is normal and the aqueduct of Sylvius is clear. The cyst, on friday, is now visible on an ultrasound, according to the Gynaecologist, when it wasn't 2 weeks ago. He said that this is because the Cyst is growing.
We spoke to a Neurosurgeon, who said that the Cyst was growing because the CSF is flowing into it, but cannot get out again and is so building up and enlarging it. He said that the baby would need a shunt put in place and that the shunt would be placed into a ventricle, which would take out most, but not all of the CSF.
I plan on speaking to him again this week, but would like to be armed with a bit more knowledge as there are a few questions that have been nagging at me. Any answers you have would be much appreciated.
1) Why are they not recommending removing the cyst? Isn't this a better solution? It would certainly be better for my son and us as we wouldn't have to worry about the complications that come with using a shunt.
2) In the event that a shunt is the only option, why is it being placed into a ventricle? If most but not all of the CSF would flow through the shunt, wouldn't this mean that the cyst would still grow? I mean, there would still be CSF flowing into the cyst wouldn't there? Even if it was just minimal, over time, this cyst would still grow and he would still need another operation. Wouldn't it be better to place the shunt into the cyst, or is this not possible?
3) Is the baby likely to have any developmental problems as he gets older because of this Hydrocephalus? None of the doctors will give me any indications about this.
Thanks
My son is due to be born this week (at 35 weeks) and he has been diagnosed with Hydrocephalus.
He was fine for the first 28 weeks with no symptoms of hydrocephalus and has since then showed increased CSF in 2 of his ventricles. One of them is now over 32mm in diameter. An MRI was done at the beginning of last week that shows that there is an arachnoid cyst present in his head.
I do not know the technical terms, but the cyst is in the "external" part of the brain right outside the point where the CSF exits the "internal" part of the brain. Hence, it is blocking most (but not all) of the CSF from exiting. The 4th ventricle is normal and the aqueduct of Sylvius is clear. The cyst, on friday, is now visible on an ultrasound, according to the Gynaecologist, when it wasn't 2 weeks ago. He said that this is because the Cyst is growing.
We spoke to a Neurosurgeon, who said that the Cyst was growing because the CSF is flowing into it, but cannot get out again and is so building up and enlarging it. He said that the baby would need a shunt put in place and that the shunt would be placed into a ventricle, which would take out most, but not all of the CSF.
I plan on speaking to him again this week, but would like to be armed with a bit more knowledge as there are a few questions that have been nagging at me. Any answers you have would be much appreciated.
1) Why are they not recommending removing the cyst? Isn't this a better solution? It would certainly be better for my son and us as we wouldn't have to worry about the complications that come with using a shunt.
2) In the event that a shunt is the only option, why is it being placed into a ventricle? If most but not all of the CSF would flow through the shunt, wouldn't this mean that the cyst would still grow? I mean, there would still be CSF flowing into the cyst wouldn't there? Even if it was just minimal, over time, this cyst would still grow and he would still need another operation. Wouldn't it be better to place the shunt into the cyst, or is this not possible?
3) Is the baby likely to have any developmental problems as he gets older because of this Hydrocephalus? None of the doctors will give me any indications about this.
Thanks
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