Patient's question:
What are the symptoms of hydrocephalus in the elderly? What causes it? Age 58, male, feeling numb in the left arm and leg, sometimes dizzy, and last week the hospital examination was diagnosed with hydrocephalus.Doctor's answer:
Disease Analysis: The typical symptoms of hydrocephalus include headache, vomiting, blurred vision, papilledema, occasional diplopia, dizziness, and seizures. Some patients may experience bradycardia, elevated blood pressure, respiratory disorders, and changes in pupil size; some patients may have eye movement disorders, pyramidal signs, changes in muscle tone, and meningeal irritation; some may exhibit intracranial hypertension syndrome, such as vomiting, constipation, gastrointestinal bleeding, neurogenic pulmonary edema, diabetes insipidus, cerebral salt wasting, and cerebral salt wasting syndrome.Treatment Suggestions: Suitable for early or mild cases with slow progression, the goal is to reduce cerebrospinal fluid secretion or increase the body's water excretion. Methods include: using diuretics such as acetazolamide, hydrochlorothiazide, furosemide, and mannitol, or repeated lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid drainage. Surgical treatment, such as decompression surgery to relieve obstruction, should be the preferred method for treating hydrocephalus. For obstructive hydrocephalus, relieving the obstruction is the most ideal approach. Examples include interventricular foraminoplasty, aqueductoplasty, fourth ventricle cyst fenestration, intraventricular tumor resection, third ventricle floor fenestration, and foramen magnum decompression.