What is the prognosis?
The prognosis for patients diagnosed with hydrocephalus is difficult to predict, although there is some correlation between the specific cause of the hydrocephalus and the patient's outcome. Prognosis is further complicated by the presence of associated disorders, the timeliness of diagnosis, and the success of treatment. The degree to which decompression (relief of CSF pressure or buildup) following shunt surgery can minimize or reverse damage to the brain is not well understood.Affected individuals and their families should be aware that hydrocephalus poses risks to both cognitive and physical development. However, many children diagnosed with the disorder benefit from rehabilitation therapies and educational interventions, and go on to lead normal lives with few limitations. Treatment by an interdisciplinary team of medical professionals, rehabilitation specialists, and educational experts is critical to a positive outcome. Treatment of patients with hydrocephalus is life-saving and life-sustaining. Left untreated, progressive hydrocephalus is, with rare exceptions, fatal.
What research is being done?
Within the Federal government, the leading supporter of research on hydrocephalus is the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). The NINDS, a part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is responsible for supporting and conducting research on the brain and the central nervous system. NINDS conducts research in its laboratories at NIH and also supports studies through grants to major medical institutions across the country.One NINDS-supported study examined cognitive development, academic achievement, and behavioral adjustment in children with hydrocephalus. With further research, investigators hope to shed new light on the influence of hydrocephalus on development as well as the more general issue of the effect of early brain injury.
The NINDS also conducts and supports a wide range of fundamental studies that explore the complex mechanisms of normal brain development. The knowledge gained from these studies provides the foundation for understanding how this process can go awry and, thus, offers hope for new means to treat and prevent developmental brain disorders such as hydrocephalus.
NIH Publication No. 99-385
November 1999
