Among the various disorders that manifest with gait disturbance, cognitive impairment, and urinary incontinence in the elderly population, idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is becoming ...of great importance. The first edition of these guidelines for management of iNPH was published in 2004, and the second edition in 2012, to provide a series of timely, evidence-based recommendations related to iNPH. Since the last edition, clinical awareness of iNPH has risen dramatically, and clinical and basic research efforts on iNPH have increased significantly. This third edition of the guidelines was made to share these ideas with the international community and to promote international research on iNPH. The revision of the guidelines was undertaken by a multidisciplinary expert working group of the Japanese Society of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus in conjunction with the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare research project. This revision proposes a new classification for NPH. The category of iNPH is clearly distinguished from NPH with congenital/developmental and acquired etiologies. Additionally, the essential role of disproportionately enlarged subarachnoid-space hydrocephalus (DESH) in the imaging diagnosis and decision for further management of iNPH is discussed in this edition. We created an algorithm for diagnosis and decision for shunt management. Diagnosis by biomarkers that distinguish prognosis has been also initiated. Therefore, diagnosis and treatment of iNPH have entered a new phase. We hope that this third edition of the guidelines will help patients, their families, and healthcare professionals involved in treating iNPH.
Background
We showed that ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt and lumboperitoneal (LP) shunt surgeries are beneficial for patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) in the Study of ...Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus on Neurological Improvement (SINPHONI; a multicenter prospective cohort study) and in SINPHONI-2 (a multicenter randomized trial). Although therapeutic efficacy is important, cost-effectiveness analysis is equally valuable.
Methods
Using both a set of assumptions and using the data from SINPHONI and SINPHONI-2, we estimated the total cost of treatment for iNPH, which consists of medical expenses (e.g., operation fees) and costs to the long-term care insurance system (LCIS) in Japan. Regarding the natural course of iNPH patients, 10% or 20% of patients on each modified Rankin Scale (mRS) show aggravation (aggravation rate: 10% or 20%) every 3 months if the patients do not undergo shunt surgery, as described in a previous report. We performed cost-effectiveness analyses for the various scenarios, calculating the quality-adjusted life year (QALY) and the incremental cost-effective ratio (ICER). Then, based on the definition provided by a previous report, we assessed the cost-effectiveness of shunt surgery for iNPH.
Results
In the first year after shunt surgery, the ICER of VP shunt varies from 29,934 to 40,742 USD (aggravation rate 10% and 20%, respectively) and the ICER of LP shunt varies from 58,346 to 80,392 USD (aggravation rate 10% and 20%, respectively), which indicates that the shunt surgery for iNPH is a cost-effective treatment.
In the 2nd postoperative year, the cost to the LCIS will continue to decrease because of the lasting improvement of the symptoms due to the surgery. The total cost for iNPH patients will show a positive return on investment in as soon as 18 months (VP) and 21 months (LP), indicating that shunt surgery for iNPH is a cost-effective treatment.
Conclusions
Because the total cost for iNPH patients will show a positive return on investment within 2 years, shunt surgery for iNPH is a cost-effective treatment and therefore recommended.
The SINPHONI-2 study was registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials registry: UMIN000002730)
SINPHONI was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, no. NCT00221091.
Background
Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is secondary to a cerebrospinal fluid leak at the spinal level without obvious causative events. Several signs on brain and cervical spine ...magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MRI) have been associated with SIH but can be equivocal or negative. This retrospective study sought to identify characteristic SIH signs on thoracic spinal MRI.
Methods
Cranial and spinal MR images of 27 consecutive patients with classic SIH symptoms, who eventually received epidural autologous blood patches (EBPs), were analyzed.
Results
The most prevalent findings on T2-weighted MRI at the thoracic level were anterior shift of the spinal cord (96.3%) and dorsal dura mater (81.5%), probably caused by dural sac shrinkage. These dural sac shrinkage signs (DSSS) were frequently accompanied by cerebrospinal fluid collection in the posterior epidural space (77.8%) and a prominent epidural venous plexus (77.8%). These findings disappeared in all six patients who underwent post-EBP spinal MRI. Dural enhancement and brain sagging were minimum or absent on the cranial MR images of seven patients, although DSSS were obvious in these seven patients. For 23 patients with SIH and 28 healthy volunteers, a diagnostic test using thoracic MRI was performed by 13 experts to validate the usefulness of DSSS. The median sensitivity, specificity, positive-predictive value, negative-predictive value, and accuracy of the DSSS were high (range, 0.913–0.931).
Conclusions
Detection of DSSS on thoracic MRI facilitates an SIH diagnosis without the use of invasive imaging modalities. The DSSS were positive even in patients in whom classic cranial MRI signs for SIH were equivocal or minimal.
In obese patients, we often find difficulty in laparotomy for placing a lumboperitoneal shunt catheter. The authors introduced an easy technique to get a sufficiently wide and shallow operative field ...through small abdominal incision in obese people. Four blunt scalp hooks and rubber bands, commonly used in craniotomy, were prepared. The fat layer and the rectus abdominis muscle layer were retracted and pulled up using these hooks. Blunt scalp hooks were useful for safe and effective retraction of abdominal wall, which made a sufficient and shallow operative field.
Background : During lumboperitoneal shunt operation, we may inadvertently pull and displace the spinal catheter after the catheter placement into the spinal canal. The authors introduce an easy and ...efficient technique for repositioning a prolapsed catheter into correct place. Methods: After the confirmation of cerebrospinal fluid outflow from the end of the catheter, a guidewire for angiogram was gently inserted into the catheter until its tip reached the end of the catheter. The guidewire-inserted catheter was able to be pushed back manually and adequately placed in the spinal canal under the fluoroscope guidance. Results: Three patients underwent repositioning using this "rescue wire technique" without complications. Conclusion: This "rescue wire technique" is useful for repositioning of the displaced catheter into the spinal canal.
The 3-meter Timed Up and Go test (TUG) is a reliable quantitative test for assessment of gait and balance. We aimed to establish an optimal threshold of TUG at the tap test for predicting outcomes 12 ...months after shunt surgery in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH).
The TUG was measured in a total of 151 patients with possible iNPH before and after a tap test and 12 months after shunt surgery. Among them, 81 patients underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunt implantation (SINPHONI) and 70 underwent lumboperitoneal shunt implantation (SINPHONI-2). The areas under the curve (AUCs), sensitivities, and specificities for predicting shunt effectiveness were assessed.
The simple differences of time on TUG at the tap test were significantly more accurate for predicting shunt effectiveness than percent improvement of time. The highest AUC for the synchronized moving cutoff point of TUG time was 0.81 (sensitivity 81.0%; specificity 81.6%) at the threshold of 5 seconds in the SINPHONI-2. For predicting improvements of ≥10 seconds 12 months after lumboperitoneal shunt implantation, the AUC was 0.90, and the sensitivity and specificity at the threshold of 5.6 seconds were 83.3% and 81.0%. Only for patients with a <5-second improvement at the tap test, ventriculoperitoneal shunt implantation conveyed significantly better improvements in TUG time 12 months after surgery than lumboperitoneal shunt implantation.
An improvement of 5 seconds was a useful threshold of TUG time at the tap test for predicting a ≥10-second improvement 12 months after shunt surgery, rather than the percent improvement of TUG time.
Neurol Med Chir (Tokyo) 54, 510, 2014 The first author’s name of above article was printed incorrectly on the next issue contents. Incorrect: Takashi KAWAHAWA Correct: Takashi KAWAHARA
PDF
