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Epilepsy as a Late Complication

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Complications of CSF Shunting in Hydrocephalus

Abstract

In clinical practice, hydrocephalus occupies a large part of the neurosurgical activity. Even today, the most frequent treatment for hydrocephalus consists of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunting and shunt-related complications are difficult to treat. In particular, epilepsy is not an uncommon disease in patients with shunted hydrocephalus, but much controversy still exists regarding the development of epilepsy in hydrocephalic patients. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss all risk factors for the development of epileptic seizures in patients with hydrocephalus and thus to disclose possible relationship between shunted hydrocephalus and the development of epilepsy. Based on literature data, we suggest that every neurosurgeon must take into account the avoidance of possible complications starting from the time of placing a CSF shunt. A better knowledge of occurrence of epilepsy related to shunting seems to be crucial for improving hydrocephalic patients’ outcomes in future.

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Correspondence to Ahmet Tuncay Turgut MD .

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Turgut, M., Turgut, A.T. (2015). Epilepsy as a Late Complication. In: Di Rocco, C., Turgut, M., Jallo, G., Martínez-Lage, J. (eds) Complications of CSF Shunting in Hydrocephalus. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09961-3_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09961-3_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-09961-3

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