Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

Question: Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus? My mother was diagnosed with Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH). They put a shunt in her brain to drain the excess fluid, but doesn't seem to be working. Has anyone else experience this problem and what was the outcome?

Answer: It may need the pressure adjusting.

Question: what are the causes of normal pressure hydrocephalus?

Answer: The causes of hydrocephalus are not all well understood. Hydrocephalus may result from genetic inheritance (aqueductal stenosis) or developmental disorders such as those associated with neural tube defects including spina bifida and encephalocele. Other possible causes include complications of premature birth such as intraventricular hemorrhage, diseases such as meningitis, tumors, traumatic head injury, or subarachnoid hemorrhage blocking the exit from the ventricles to the cisterns and eliminating the cisterns themselves. Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid that causes the ventricles in the brain to become enlarged with little or no increase in pressure. The name of this condition is misleading, however, because some patients have fluctuations of CSF pressure from high to normal to low. In most cases of NPH, it is not clear what causes the CSF pathways to become blocked. Adult-onset normal pressure hydrocephalus describes those cases that occur in older adults (age 50 and older). The majority of the NPH population is 60 years or older. The majority of cases of normal pressure hydrocephalus are idiopathic (meaning unknown cause). In some cases, NPH can develop as the result of a head injury, cranial surgery, subarachnoid hemorrhage, meningitis, tumor or cysts, as well as subdural hematomas, bleeding during surgery and other infections.