Background: Acquired Hydrocephalus can develop at birth or
in adulthood. It has many etiologies like obstruction by Tumors,
inflammatory and infective lesions like meningioencephalitis
and cerebral abscess. It may result from Hemorrhage like
parenchymal hemorrhage, intra-ventricular hemorrhage,
germinal matrix hemorrhage(GMH). GMH is the leading cause
of acquired infantile hydrocephalus in preterms. But still the
main causes of secondary hydrocephalus in the infantile age
groups post-meningetic and post hemorrhagic. Aim: the aim of
this study is to evaluate the different prognostic factors affecting
the clinical and surgical outcome in cases of secondary
hydrocephalus in infants. Methods: This is a prospective study
conducted on 30 non-consecutive cases with secondary
hydrocephalus who underwent surgery by variable surgical
procedures at Benha University Hospital from March 2022 to
June 2023. Results: The mean age of the included patients was
11.43 months. The distribution of underlying pathology of studied
cases was (Post-meningetic 80%, Post-hemorrhagic 13.3%, Posttumor 6.7%). Cases were followed up for 6-12 months. There
was reported incidence of favorable clinical and surgical
outcome of 60 % of cases with no need for any surgical
procedure and adverse outcome in 40%. Conclusion: Secondary
hydrocephalus in a premature baby, with LBW, especially if
admitted to NICU for more than 1 month, with presence of systemic
sepsis and CSF infection by G-ve bacilli especially with frequent
CSF tapping had the worst outcome. While maturity and normal
birth weight without NICU admission, and absence of sepsis with negative CSF culture predicting a
favorable clinical and surgical outcome. |
