Hydrocephalus Essay

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This proposal focuses on defining a cell-based therapy aimed at treating hydrocephalus and on limiting the immune response that is a common problem in hydrocephalus treatment as the shunt’s ventricular catheter becomes obstructed with tissue. This novel approach was designed after a literature review of contemporary and previously proposed treatment plans to identify if a personalized cell-based therapy can be implemented and result in improved patient outcomes.







General Background:

The word “hydrocephalus” is of Greek origin, where the words "hydro" meaning water and "cephalus" meaning head, and the words bluntly suggest that this disease has neurological manifestations. Rekate et. al defines hydrocephalus as “an active distension of the …show more content…

Communicating/non-obstructive hydrocephalus is characterized by the malabsorption of CSF in the absence of an obstruction in the CSF flow in its normal path to the subarachnoid space and across the blood-brain barrier, whilst non-communicating/obstructive is, as the name suggests because of an obstruction anywhere in the normal production or flow of CSF.4

This restricted flow of CSF or malabsorption can result in symptoms and signs that vary with age, and disease progression.3 The most obvious sign of hydrocephalus is an unusually large head size.3 Other symptoms can include any combination of vomiting, irritability, downward deviation of the eyes, seizures, poor coordination, gait disturbance, urinary incontinence, mental retardation, lethargy, or other changes in personality or

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