Hydrocephalus in newborns: clinical conditions and primary surgical treatment.

Background. Hydrocephalus is a state in which excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid occurs in intracranial space as a result of disorders of its circulation hydrodynamics. Objectives. The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical conditions and primary surgical treatment of hydrocephalus in the newborns examined in the study. Material and Methods. The data was gathered using a retrospective analysis of the medical and nursing records of 57 newborns treated for hydrocephalus at the Department of Pediatric Surgery of the Dr. A. Jurasz University Hospital in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Results. In the years 2008–2009 at the Department of Pediatric Surgery of Dr. A. Jurasz University Hospital in Bydgoszcz, 57 newborns were treated for hydrocephalus. In all patients (100% of the study group) regardless of sex, age, place of residence or etiology, the doctors used surgical therapy. Conclusions. There is a connection between selected causes of hydrocephalus in the study group and sociodemographic characteristics such as the place of residence or age. Sociodemographic data (sex, age, place of residence) have no effect on the treatment of hydrocephalus in newborns. In all cases of hydrocephalus in the study, the treatment used was implantation of a drainage system. Rickham reservoirs are more rarely implanted in full-term newborns than in premature ones, while ventricle-peritoneal valves are more frequently used in full-term newborns than in premature babies. Regardless of the reason for hydrocephalus formation, the treatment is based on surgical intervention and the most common drainage system used to correct the defect is the ventricle-peritoneal valve (Adv Clin Exp Med 2013, 22, 2, 237–243).