How dangerous is external hydrocephalus?
Before talking about external hydrocephalus,It is worth talking about how the human brain is arranged. There are several cavities both inside the brain itself, and between the brain and the envelopes surrounding it. Of course, they are not empty, but under normal conditions they are filled with a special substance produced by some brain cells, a cerebrospinal fluid. External hydrocephalus arises precisely because of a violation of the circulation of this fluid: it can accumulate in excessive amounts in the ventricles and adjacent to the surface of the brain areas, thereby increasing intracranial pressure. The situation is aggravated by the fact that the bones of the skull of an adult person are not able to change their shape, which increases this pressure even more. In children, whose bones have not yet become firm, and the cranial sutures have not grown, external hydrocephalus is usually outwardly visible due to the increase in the volume of the skull.
Normally cerebrospinal fluid is constantlyis secreted and re-absorbed, thereby maintaining the volume at the desired level. Circulation can be violated for various reasons. For example, in those people who have had meningitis, there is often a decrease in the ability of brain cells to suck in this fluid, and in tumors, its production is excessively increased.
Moderate external hydrocephalus is accompanied bya number of symptoms associated with disruption of the brain: rapid fatigue, depression, nausea, vomiting. For children, this disease is especially dangerous because when squeezing the brain tissue, their supply of nutrients and oxygen is disturbed, which seriously affects the development of not only the brain but also the rest of the body. The child's external hydrocephalus, which occurs without the control of doctors, can cause his mental underdevelopment in the future.
When it is accurately known that the patient is deliveredthe diagnosis of "external hydrocephalus", he is prescribed treatment, which can be both surgical and therapeutic (medicamental). The type of therapy is chosen based on the established cause of the disease. Drug treatment is usually the use of drugs that reduce intracranial pressure. Surgical treatment is used in those cases when there is no effect from the therapeutic, or moderately expressed external hydrocephalus has its cause some organic changes in the brain. In this case, various neoplasms can be removed or drainages can be installed to drain excess fluid from the brain cavities.
