Preoperative Continuous Measurements of Ventricular Pressure in Hydrocephalus Occlusus With Tumors of the Posterior Fossa: The Value of Ventriculoauricular Shunt

Abstract

Midline tumors of the posterior fossa are usually accompanied by a disturbance of CSF drainage in the area of the aqueduct and/or fourth ventricle and thus develop a hydrocephalus occlusus. One to three days after having relieved intracranial pressure, we carried out prolonged measurements of intraventricular pressure during nighttime in 13 patients with processes of the posterior fossa showing occlusion hydrocephalus verified by ventriculography.(4, 5, 6). The measurements took about 11 h. Thereby, a continuous rise in ventricular pressure averaging from 13–26 mm Hg was noticed, doubling the initial values (Fig. 1). This rise was accompanied in most of the cases by pressure waves type B and C as described by LUNDBERG. Plateau waves of pure form were present in only one of the cases (Figs. 2 and 3).