The Kuopio idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus protocol:initial outcome of 175 patients

Abstract Background: The Kuopio University Hospital (KUH) idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunting protocol is described together with the initial outcomes of 175 patients with probable iNPH treated according to this protocol from a defined population. Our secondary aim was to display the variety of differential diagnoses referred to the KUH iNPH outpatient clinic from 2010 until 2017. Methods: Patients were divided into four groups according to the prognostic tests: tap test (positive or negative) and infusion test (positive or negative). The short-term outcome was compared between groups. The 3-month outcome following shunt surgery was assessed by measuring gait speed improvement, using a 12-point iNPH grading scale (iNPHGS) and the 15D instrument. Results: From 341 patients suspected of iNPH, 88 patients were excluded from further research mostly due to deviation from the protocol’s gait assessment guidelines. Hence 253 patients with suspected iNPH were included in the study, 177/253 (70%) of whom were treated with a CSF shunt. A favorable clinical outcome following surgery was observed in 79–93% of patients depending on the prognostic group. A moderate association (Cramer’s V = 0.32) was found between the gait speed improvement rate and the prognostic group (X2, p = 0.003). Patients with a positive tap test had the highest gait speed improvement rate (75%). In addition, an improvement in walking speed was observed in 4/11 patients who had both a negative tap test and a negative infusion test. Other outcome measures did not differ between the prognostic groups. Conditions other than iNPH were found in 25% of the patients referred to iNPH outpatient clinic, with the most prevalent being Alzheimer’s disease. Conclusions: Our results emphasize the importance of a systematic diagnostic and prognostic workup especially in cases with an atypical presentation of iNPH. Additional diagnostic testing may be required, but should not delay adequate care. Active surgical treatment is recommended in patients with a high clinical probability of iNPH. Other neurological conditions contributed to most of the non iNPH diagnoses

Multimodal analysis to predict shunt surgery outcome of 284 patients with suspected idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

Objectives: Optimal selection of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) patients for shunt surgery is challenging. Disease State Index (DSI) is a statistical method that merges multimodal data to assist clinical decision-making. It has previously been shown to be useful in predicting progression in mild cognitive impairment and differentiating Alzheimer's disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia. In this study, we use the DSI method to predict shunt surgery response for patients with iNPH. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, a total of 284 patients (230 shunt responders and 54 non-responders) from the Kuopio NPH registry were analyzed with the DSI. Analysis included data from patients' memory disorder assessments, age, clinical symptoms, comorbidities, medications, frontal cortical biopsy, CT/MRI imaging (visual scoring of disproportion between Sylvian and suprasylvian subarachnoid spaces, atrophy of medial temporal lobe, superior medial subarachnoid spaces), APOE genotyping, CSF AD biomarkers, and intracranial pressure. Results: Our analysis showed that shunt responders cannot be differentiated from non-responders reliably even with the large dataset available (AUC?=?0.58). Conclusions: Prediction of the treatment response in iNPH is challenging even with our extensive dataset and refined analysis. Further research of biomarkers and indicators predicting shunt responsiveness is still needed

Predicting development of Alzheimer's disease in patients with shunted idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

Abstract Background: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) patients often develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD) related brain pathology. Disease State Index (DSI) is a method to combine data from various sources for differential diagnosis and progression of neurodegenerative disorders. Objective: To apply DSI to predict clinical AD in shunted iNPH-patients in a defined population. Methods: 335 shunted iNPH-patients (median 74 years) were followed until death (n = 185) or 6/2015 (n = 150). DSI model (including symptom profile, onset age of NPH symptoms, atrophy of medial temporal lobe in CT/MRI, cortical brain biopsy finding, and APOE genotype) was applied. Performance of DSI model was evaluated with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results:A total of 70 (21%) patients developed clinical AD during median follow-up of 5.3 years. DSI-model predicted clinical AD with moderate effectiveness (AUC = 0.75). Significant factors were cortical biopsy (0.69), clinical symptoms (0.66), and medial temporal lobe atrophy (0.66). Conclusion: We found increased occurrence of clinical AD in previously shunted iNPH patients as compared with general population. DSI supported the prediction of AD. Cortical biopsy during shunt insertion seems indicated for earlier diagnosis of comorbid AD

Abstracts from Hydrocephalus 2016

International audienc

Abstracts from Hydrocephalus 2016

International audienc