nph

[konrazor]

any experiences with normal pressure hydrocephalus

[jriley8]

My mother had shunt surgery 2 weeks ago.  I was just wondering how long it took before your mother showed real signs of recovery.

[Yvette BG]

Hi. Here are our experiences, in a nutshell. My Mom was diagnosed in 1998 with adult onset normal pressure hydrocephalus. At the time, she was 70 years old. The symptoms she had included falling and staggering gait, memory problems, slurry speech, trouble balancing her checkbook (she always did math in her head!), changes in her personality and her sense of humor (more depressed, argumentative, no longer understood jokes and local quirky expressions, etc.), urinary incontinence and just before the surgery, bowel incontinence as well. She successfully had a brain shunt surgically placed to remove the excess fluid in the fall of 1998 and with time and therapy, got back to her usual self. That shunt lasted until Dec. 2008; she had shunt surgery in Jan. 2009 and then developed a shunt infection and had a 3rd shunt surgery in June 2009. She is alive today at 83.  

On average, the neurosurgeon told us, shunts last about 10 years. My Mom's 3rd shunt is a newer variety, externally programmable, meaning they can adjust the flow if too much or to little water/fluid is being removed--using a magnet and they do not have to go in surgically to do that (like the old shunts).

Hope this information is helpful.

--Yvette  

[Dr Sharma]

Hi there. Normal pressure hydrocephalus is a type of hydrocephalus that occurs in adults, usually in older than 60 years. The CSF drainage is blocked gradually and excess fluid builds up slowly. Since the ventricles enlarge slowly so fluid pressure may not be as high as in other types of hydrocephalus.  The parts of brain mostly affected in NPH, are those that affect the legs, bladder and cognitive mental processes like memory, reasoning, speech and problem solving.
Treatment options are limited, surgery can relieve and those not candidates for this will have to be given behavioral therapy. Hope this helps. takecare.