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Three-day CSF drainage barely reduces ventricular size in normal pressure hydrocephalus
Neurology, 08/02/2012
Lenfeldt N et al. – Clinical improvement occurs in patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) after External lumbar drainage (ELD) despite unaltered ventricles, suggesting that ventricular size is of little relevance for postshunt improvement or determining shunt function. The clinical effect provided by ELD, mimicking shunting, is probably related to the recurring CSF extractions rather than to the cumulative effect of the drainage on ventricular volume.