The popular board game Operation entails the treatment of, amongst many other ersatz medical conditions, "water on the knee," cleverly rendered as a bucket to be withdrawn from the knee of the plastic "patient" using tweezers. However, to the dismay of many seven-year old budding neuropsychologists, there was no ailment involving the most important part of the body: the brain. Perhaps that bucket should have been reserved for a niche in the patient's head instead of his knee, since the condition colloquially-termed "water on the brain," or hydrocephalus, is not only more detrimental to the overall functioning of an individual than knee-pain, but, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, affects one of every 500 children born and is the leading cause for childhood brain surgery (2008).
[...] Effects of intraventricular hemorrhage and hydrocephalus on the long-term neurobehavioral development of preterm very- low-birthweight infants. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 596-606. Retrieved April from PsycINFO database. References (continued) Foss, T., Eide, P., & Finset, A. (2007). Intracranial Pressure Parameters in Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Patients with or without Improvement of Cognitive Function after Shunt Treatment. Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders, 47-54. Retrieved April from PsycINFO database. Graff-Radford, N. (2007, August). Normal pressure hydrocephalus. Neurologic Clinics, 809-832. Retrieved April from PsycINFO database. [...]
[...] The specific diagnostic tool is chosen based on the individual, i.e. age, other clinical diagnoses, and the presence of known central nervous system abnormalities. However, diagnosis is not simple, as the plethora of possible symptoms often manifest themselves similarly to other disorders. In a case study performed by Reisch, Brekenfeld and Barth, a 22 year-old male was presenting manic and depressive symptoms over the course of a two-year period; however, the patient displayed no neurological symptoms (2005). However, three months after initial evaluation, the patient was imaged via MRI and shown to have an obstructive hydrocephalus. [...]
[...] Oral discourse after early-onset hydrocephalus: Linguistic ambiguity, figurative language, speech acts, and script-based inferences. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 639-652. Retrieved April from PsycINFO database. Dennis, M., Barnes, M., & Hetherington, C. (1999). Congenital hydrocephalus as a model of neurodevelopmental disorder. Neurodevelopmental disorders (pp. 505-532). Cambridge, MA, US: The MIT Press. Retrieved April from PsycINFO database. References (continued) Duinkerke, A., Williams, M., Rigamonti, D., & Hillis, A. (2004, September). Cognitive recovery in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus after shunt. Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology, 179-184. [...]
[...] Cancerous tumors and cysts (such as Dandy Walker cysts) unrelated to the meninges can also exert pressure on the brain, possibly causing an impaired outflow of CSF. There are also many cases of hydrocephalus caused by an upset balance in the homeostasis of chemicals in the brain, such as may occur if a doctor were to prescribe an incompatible combination of psychiatric medications. However, these occurrences are extremely rare, as are other causes of hydrocephalus, of which there are around 180 in total. [...]
[...] However, any traumatic brain injury throughout childhood and into adulthood has the potential to lead to an acquired hydrocephalus, which may be either communicative or non- communicative in nature, depending on the nature of the injury. Most common in this category would be a hemorrhagic blockage of CSF outflow, causing a pathological accumulation of CSF. Disease is also a strong factor in the development of hydrocephalus. Acquiring meningitis, tumors, or cysts in the central nervous system all have the potential to influence the development of hydrocephalus. [...]
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