children s health issues
Hydrocephalus
Treatment of Hydrocephalus
Sometimes spinal taps For worsening hydrocephalus, a shunt or opening in the ventricles The goal of treatment is To keep pressure within the brain normal Treatment of hydrocephalus depends on what is causing the disorder, how severe it is, and whether it is worsening. If needed, pressure within the brain can often be temporarily reduced by removing spinal fluid with repeated Spinal Tap (lumbar punctures) until a shunt is placed. If hydrocephalus is worsening, doctors place a ventricular shunt. The shunt is a plastic tube that creates a permanent alternate drainage path for cerebrospinal fluid. Draining the cerebrospinal fluid decreases the pressure and volume of the fluid inside the brain. Doctors place the shunt in the ventricles in the brain and run it under the skin from the head to another site, usually the abdomen (called a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, or VP shunt). The shunt contains a valve that allows fluid to leave the brain if the pressure becomes too high. Although a few children can eventually do without the shunt as they get older, shunts are rarely removed because of the risk of bleeding and injury. In some children, doctors do a ventriculostomy. In this procedure, doctors do not place a shunt and instead create an opening between a ventricle and the subarachnoid space in the brain. This opening allows excess fluid to drain and be absorbed as usual. Sometimes a shunt is still necessary if the ventriculostomy does not cure the hydrocephalus. After placing a shunt or doing a ventriculostomy, doctors measure Head Circumference and determine how the child is developing. Imaging tests (such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging) are done periodically. Shunts can become infected. Children who develop an infection are given antibiotics. Typically the shunt is then removed and replaced. Shunts can break or become blocked and stop functioning correctly. To determine how a shunt is functioning, doctors take x-rays of the shunt and do imaging tests of the brain. A shunt that is not working correctly is typically removed and replaced. 