Neuroimaging in Pediatric Hydrocephalus

Abstract

Hydrocephalus may be defined as an expansion of the CSF compartment of the head at the expense of the brain. Common in children, it is classically recognized from the triad of a macrocephaly, a ventriculomegaly with effacement of the pericerebral spaces, and typically, a cause. It may be obstructive, and the obstruction may sit either along the ventricular pathways or in the cisterns; it may be nonobstructive, when no obstruction can be demonstrated. In obstructive hydrocephalus, the main pathogenetic factor is the loss of compliance, that is, the loss of the ability of the system to buffer the force of the systolic pressure wave. In nonobstructive hydrocephalus, the main pathogenetic factor seems to be a secretion-absorption mismatch. Depending on the clinical course, hydrocephalus may be acute, progressively acute, or chronic.