HYDROCEPHALUS

Objectives: To know about the causes of hydrocephalus (HDC) among thedifferent age groups. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: Department of neurosurgeryPGMI/LRH. Period: August 2012 to September 2013. Materials and Methods: The operativerecords and the admission records of all the patients who were admitted and operated duringthe study period were checked. All the patients undergoing surgery for hydrocephalus wereincluded in the study and those patients who had undergone surgery for other reasons wereexcluded from the study. Patient s who had a repeated surgery for hydrocephalus were alsoexcluded from the study as well as those who were re-admitted for shunt related or surgeryrelated complications. The age, gender, and the radiological diagnosis of hydrocephalus wasrecorded on a designed proforma. All the patients were grouped into two that is above andbelow 12 years. Etiology wise HDC was classified as either congenital, post-infectious, tumorrelated, post trauma or miscelenous. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version16. Results: A total of 634 admission for Hydrocephalus were reviewed. 387 patients fulfilledthe inclusion criteria. There were 209 males and 178 females. The age range was from 1 monthto 69 years and the mean age was 8±4.6 years. There were 67.67% of the patients in the groupI while 33.33% of patients in the Group II. There was almost equal distribution on in the groupII based on the age difference. The major causes in the group I were the congenital, postinfectious, and tumor related while in the group II the main causes were the PIH, post tumor andthe post hemorrhagic. Conclusion: The most common causes of the HDC in the pediatric agegroup are the congenital, PIH and tumor related. In adults the most common causes of the HDCare the PIH, post Hemorrhagic HDC and tumor related Hydrocephalus.