Is hydrocephalus curable? This question is common in many medical offices. The disease mainly affects babies and the elderly and can cause serious brain damage. Hydro means water and cephalia means head. This water is present in everyone’s head and is known as cerebrospinal fluid. Hydrocephalus occurs when there is an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid produced by the brain within its cavities.
Pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Alexandre Canheu, clarifies the issue. “We can treat the absolute majority of hydrocephalus, we can cure it, whether with a shunt system, endoscopic video treatment, or a combination of both treatments, what matters is that each patient needs to be evaluated by a team of experienced neurosurgeons”.
The disease can be divided into several types, but generally there are three most common: congenital (more common in children), acquired (can occur after infections and illnesses) and normal pressure (affects more adults). Head dilation is the main characteristic, patients may suffer from impaired vision, headaches, incontinence, loss of motor coordination and cognitive difficulties.
Causes and treatments
There are basically two causes, “we have obstructive and communicating hydrocephalus, the first is when there is obstruction in one of the circulation points of the ventricular system, while communicating hydrocephalus occurs after infections, inflammations or a situation that makes the absorption of CSF difficult, causing it accumulates with greater pressure inside the brain, even when circulating normally”, highlights Canheu.
Treatment varies depending on the type of disease. In cases of communicating hydrocephalus, it is possible to use shunt valves, which have several ways of functioning. The most common is the fixed shunt valve, which directs the liquid accumulated in the brain to other parts of the body, and the surgery is low risk. “When we implant a system like this in a child who is starting to grow, we don’t necessarily need to schedule a revision surgery, we follow up with regular consultations”, explains the pediatric neurosurgeon.
Cerebral neuroendoscopy treatment is suitable for obstructive hydrocephalus, which is video endoscopy. This way, it is possible to “navigate” inside the ventricles. “The endoscope enters through a small burr hole, we introduce it and go down with the video to the region of the floor of the third ventricle, we make a fenestration, and this excess liquid will go down through this route that we created. Once the procedure is carried out, the chance of a solution is very high.”
