How frequent is normal pressure hydrocephalus?

摘要

The Hakim-Adams syndrome (normal pressure hydro-cephalus; NPH) represents the only condition that mimics neurodegenerative dementias that can be successfully treated with a surgical procedure. As such, it is a saving alternative to an inevitable progression of dementia. The question is, how often is this syndrome the cause of dementia?Our experience is based on 3 sources of observation: Between 1965 and 1988, more than 900 postmortem examinations were performed in a psychiatric VA hospital. The clinical history of patients who were diagnosed with NPH and had a shunt placed did not result in any clinically significant improvement. Of course, the source of this material is biased because not all of these individuals had NPH but did have one of the neurodegenerative dementias.