Secondary communicating hydrocephalus management by implantation of external ventricular shunt and minimal gradual increase of cerebrospinal fluid pressure.

BACKGROUND: This paper presents a new management strategy explaining the process used by implantation of external ventricular drainage (EVD) and very gradual increase of intracranial pressure for treatment of acute hydrocephalus. During the last 30 years' experience in professional practice, the senior author (M.S.) discovered that there are some options of regulations between cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) production and resorption. This theory shows that minimal continuous increase of the CSF pressure as long as the patient general neurological condition is unchanged and appears as normal can lead to definitive treatment of hydrocephalus without needing to set a shunt. Gradual weaning from EVD is used in some neurosurgical centers related to aneurismal subarachnoid hemorrhage only in a way to treat hydrocephalus in the acute phase, but not as an alternative curative treatment for hydrocephalus, and as far as we know this procedure has not been presented to date in medical literature in this form and this purpose.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between July 2000 and November 2012, 16 patients suffering from acute secondary hydrocephalus were treated by the method described in the International Neurosciences Institute in Hannover (Germany).

RESULTS: The causes of hydrocephalus were brain tumors (12), arteriovenous malformations (2), one cavernoma, and one polytrauma. In 11 patients (68.75%), the procedure led to a complete cure and surgical treatment has been excluded after EVD removal without any risk to the patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Minimal gradual increase of CSF pressure by EVD implantation for the treatment of secondary acute communicating hydrocephalus used by senior author as an option is a safe alternative treatment of hydrocephalus and may obviate the need for surgical procedures.