At 05:23 PM 9/14/97 -0400, Linda wrote:
>Has anyone had any experience with the diagnosis of Normal Pressure
>Hydrocephalus?
Linda, the statistics indicated that the diagnoses of PD is incorrectly
made about 25% of the time. One condition which mimics PD is normal
pressure hydrocephalus (NPH).
In Jan., '96 I was diag. with PD. I had all the symptoms; gait
instability, memory problems, soft voice, tremor, and dementia. At that
time I did not have an MRI. When I started sinemet, many of the symptoms
were alleviated. In July, 96, because my symptoms, esp. memory problems,
were getting worse, I went to a clinical psychologist for memory testing.
Because of the pattern of memory loss, he suggested to my neurologist that
I have an MRI. This showed I had idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus
(NPH). As best can be determined, I believe that the NPH shut down my
dopamine production and damaged the hippocampus, and organ involved with
converting short term memory to long term memory.
I had a shunt implanted the next week. All my PD symptoms were alleviated
but some damage to certain parts of my brain have caused some permanent
memory impairment.
In general, the success of the operation is directly related to the skill
and experience of the neurosurgeon. The long term prognoses seems to be
related to the length of time the NPH has been present and the compliance
of the ventricle walls.
I have many megabytes of information on NPH, shunts, and memory. I will be
happy to send you what information I have that you would like on the
subject. Please contact me at [log in to unmask] A very useful list is
"HYCEPH-L: Hydrocephalus Info & Support" <[log in to unmask]>.
Also, if you log onto MEDLINE or PubMed and search for "normal pressure
hydrocephalus", you will find information on medical question regarding NPH.
Peace, John
