title: Epidemiology of adult-onset hydrocephalus: institutional experience with 2001 patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE Adult-onset hydrocephalus is not commonly discussed in the literature, especially regarding its demographic distribution. In contrast to pediatric hydrocephalus, which is related to a primary CSF pathway defect, its development in adults is often secondary to other pathologies. In this study, the authors investigated the epidemiology of adult-onset hydrocephalus as it pertains to different etiologies and in reference to age, sex, and race distributions. METHODS The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical notes of 2001 patients with adult-onset hydrocephalus who presented to Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center within a 25-year span. Significant differences between the groups were analyzed by a chi-square test; p < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS The overall mean (± SEM) incidence of adult hydrocephalus in this population was 77 ± 30 per year, with a significant increase in incidence in the past decade (55 ± 3 [1990-2003] vs 102 ± 6 [2004-2015]; p < 0.0001). Hydrocephalus in a majority of the patients had a vascular etiology (45.5%) or was a result of a tumor (30.2%). The incidence of hydrocephalus in different age groups varied according to various pathologies. The incidence was significantly higher in males with normal-pressure hydrocephalus (p = 0.03) or head injury (p = 0.01) and higher in females with pseudotumor cerebri (p < 0.0001). In addition, the overall incidence of hydrocephalus was significantly higher in Caucasian patients (p = 0.0002) than in those of any other race. CONCLUSIONS Knowledge of the demographic variations in adult-onset hydrocephalus is helpful in achieving better risk stratification and better managing the disease in patients. For general applicability, these results should be validated in a large-scale meta-analysis based on a national population database.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana.
authors: Shyamal C
authors: SC
authors: Bir
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana.
authors: Devi Prasad
authors: DP
authors: Patra
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana.
authors: Tanmoy K
authors: TK
authors: Maiti
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana.
authors: Hai
authors: H
authors: Sun
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana.
authors: Bharat
authors: B
authors: Guthikonda
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana.
authors: Christina
authors: C
authors: Notarianni
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, Shreveport, Louisiana.
authors: Anil
authors: A
authors: Nanda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: LSUHSC-S = Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center–Shreveport; NPH = normal pressure hydrocephalus; adult hydrocephalus; epidemiology; etiopathogenesis