View clinical trials related to Hydrocephalus.
Filter by:In normal patients, blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) contain circulating cells and other molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids. In patients with central nervous system (CNS) and other conditions, the levels of these molecules may be altered. In several other studies at our institution, the investigators are investigating such molecules in tumor specimens as well as the blood and cerebrospinal fluid of pediatric patients with CNS tumors. However, these levels are difficult to interpret without comparing them to levels in patients without CNS tumors. The investigators propose a study to collect small amounts of blood and cerebrospinal fluid from pediatric patients without CNS tumors who are undergoing a diagnostic or therapeutic neurosurgical procedure aimed at addressing altered CSF dynamics.
This multicenter, prospective pilot study will compare the effectiveness of two established procedures used in the treatment of post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus in very low birth weight infants, specifically ventricular reservoirs and subgaleal shunts. The study is being conducted by the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN), a network established to conduct multi-institutional clinical trials on pediatric hydrocephalus.
Patients are subjected to simultaneous intracranial and lumbar puncture pressure measurements. This study focus on intracranial pulse amplitude. Hypothesis: Intracranial pressure amplitude is reflected by lumbar puncture pressure amplitude.
It is known that 33-50% of Classic and Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome patients eventually develop dysautonomia, otherwise known as "POTS" (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). Some of these patients develop dysautonomia as a result of a retroflexed odontoid, Chiari 1 Malformation or cranial settling and the resulting basilar impression. Many Ehlers-Danlos patients suffer with the same symptomology with no evidence of a cause according to MRI imaging. It is the author's hypothesis that low-level External Communicating Hydrocephalus appears to be responsible for the constellation of autonomic and cranial nerve symptoms, and if present in the very young, an analysis of head circumference growth in the first 15 months of life should reflect abnormally rapid head growth, supporting this hypothesis.
The purpose of this study is to compare the accuracy of ShuntCheck (SC) and ShuntCheck plus Micro-Pumper (SC+MP) to radionuclide shunt patency testing (SPS) in evaluating shunt function in patients with adult hydrocephalus (AH) implanted with ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts when shunt obstruction is suspected and a diagnostic procedure such as radionuclide shunt patency testing (SPS) is required.
Objective: Patients with Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus are improved with shunt surgery. To increase the accuracy of the diagnosis, supplementary tests that characterize the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics are used. The infusion test is one of these, used for shunt surgery selection and postoperative evaluation of shunt function. Forty-eight patients that had a preoperative investigation because of communicating hydrocephalus at the university hospitals in Umeå and Uppsala, Sweden, participated in the study. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a new method, with a new infusion protocol and new analysis methods, and compare it to the current method.
A computerised neuropsychological test battery to be used as a standardised tool assessing the cognitive domains affected by idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus INPH was developed. The aim of this study is to investigate the reliability, validity and feasibility of the battery.
The main purpose of this study is to compare two types of treatment of hydrocephalus: placement of a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt versus an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV). A second goal of this study will be to understand how the two different types of procedures, VP shunt versus ETV, affect brain blood flow and pressures. Understanding these changes is important because the investigators hope is to someday be able to predict who will better respond to one procedure or another.
The study hypothesis is that an ultrasonic flow sensor can accurately measure flow in hydrocephalic shunts. The ultrasonic sensor will measure cerebrospinal fluid drainage in hydrocephalus patients with external ventriculostomies and extra-ventricular drainage systems. The sensor measurements will be compared with the volume of fluid collected by the drainage bag. After a 24-hour measurement period, the doctor will change the drainage bag position to simulate the patient sitting up and leaning back, to see if this temporarily stops flow through the drainage line. This data will show whether the sensor accurately measures typical drainage flows seen in hydrocephalus patients. This research will help develop an implantable flow monitor for pediatric hydrocephalus patients.
This study will determine the level of association between the quantitative estimates of brain uptake of [18F]flutemetamol and the quantitative immunohistochemical estimates of amyloid levels in biopsy samples previously obtained during shunt placement in patients who have normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH).