title: The first description of a device for repeated external ventricular drainage in the treatment of congenital hydrocephalus, invented in 1744 by Claude-Nicolas Le Cat.
abstract: An 18th century report of a device for repeated extracranial drainage of cerebrospinal fluid in the treatment of congenital hydrocephalus is reviewed. On 15th October 1744, the French surgeon Claude-Nicolas Le Cat (1700-1768) introduced a specially invented canula into the lateral ventricle of a newborn boy with hydrocephalus. The canula was used as a tap and was left in place for 5 days, until the death of the child. This procedure should be seen as the first documented description of a device for repeated ventricular taps in the treatment of hydrocephalus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. kompanje@neur.azr.nl
authors.forename: E J O
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Kompanje
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Delwel
mesh_terms: D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts / Q000266:history* / Q000295:instrumentation; D004322:Drainage / Q000266:history* / Q000295:instrumentation; D004867:Equipment Design / Q000266:history; D005602:France; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000266:history* / Q000601:surgery; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male