Concurrent Alzheimer's pathology in patients with clinical normal pressure hydrocephalus: correlation of high-volume lumbar puncture results, cortical brain biopsies, and outcomes

摘要

OBJECTIVE Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) remains most often a clinical diagnosis and has been widely considered responsive to the placement of a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt. The high incidence of patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with NPH symptoms leads to poorer outcomes than would be expected in patients with NPH alone. This article reviews a series of patients operated on for presumed NPH in whom preoperative high-volume lumbar puncture (HVLP) and intraoperative cortical brain biopsies were performed. The data derived from these procedures were then used to understand the incidence of AD in patients presenting with NPH symptoms and to analyze the efficacy of HVLP in patients with NPH and patients with concurrent AD (NPH+AD). A review of the outcomes of shunt surgery is provided.