2. Clinical Presentation ofAdult
Hydrocephalus
• It is simply a manifestation of increased
Intracranial pressure:
• Headache.
• Vomiting.
• Blurring of vision and papilloedema.
• Deterioration of level of consciousness.
• The underlying cause may be detected such
as history of trauma, Meningitis or tumor.
3. Investigations of Hydrocephalus
• We well mention here all available investigations for
Hydrocephalus, but it is not necessary to do all the
investigations for every patient.
• Ultrasonography (US):
• It is the first investigatory methods for Infantile cases,
because it needs open AF, It is simple, non invasive and
cheep. It is the method of choice to diagnose intrauterine
cases.
• Plain x-ray skull:
• Plain x-ray skull have no role in diagnosis of infantile cases.
In adults, it may show pathological intracranial calcification,
suture diastases or erosion of the dorsum sella.
4. Investigations of Hydrocephalus
(Cont.)
• Computerized Tomography (CT):
• It is main diagnostic tool of Hydrocephalus, CT
confirms diagnosis, localizes the site of
obstruction and will show the underlying cause if
present (e.g. Posterior fossa tumor fig. 5 &
6).
• Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI):
• MRI have nearly the same diagnostic value of CT
but it is expensive, not available at any place,
needs long time (nearly one hour) to finish and in
children it’s usually done under general
anesthesia
5. Figure 5 & 6: Post. fossa tumor
with Hydrocephalus