Normal-Pressure Hydrocephalus Outcomes After CSF Diversion

Two studies show improvements in motor and cognitive symptoms, and one shows correlations between motor improvements and increased motor-area activity.

These two studies address outcomes of normal-pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) after CSF diversion.

Lenfeldt and colleagues prospectively used functional MRI to identify brain areas showing enhanced activation 3 days after external lumbar drainage (ELD), compared with before drainage, in 11 patients with idiopathic NPH. (ELD was used in lieu of ventriculoperitoneal shunting to allow for MRI and because ELD has high positive predictive values and sensitivity for good outcomes with shunting.) The researchers correlated the imaging findings with improvements in motor performance (on a finger-tapping task and the Stroop reaction time test) and in cognitive performance (episodic memory tested by a face–name encoding and retrieval protocol, and attenti…

Reviewing Author

Sagun Tuli, MD, MSc, FRCSc