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SGPGI Lucknow doctors make rare intervention
Surgeons of the Neurosurgery department of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), have succeeded in implanting a programmed shunt in a patient of Hydrocephalus to save him from repeated surgeries
Surgeons of the Neurosurgery department of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), have succeeded in implanting a programmed shunt in a patient of Hydrocephalus to save him from repeated surgeries.
Hydrocephalus is a medical condition in which fluid accumulates in the brain, sometimes causing brain damage. A shunt is a very thin tube, connected to the ventricles of the brain and due to this excess brain water goes out into the stomach.
In a programmed shunt, the amount of water is adjusted through a programmable device in the shunt’s chamber to ensure required water is maintained in the brain.
“This patient had come to see the doctors of neurology fearing he had Parkinson’s disease but it turned out to be something else,” SGPGI doctors said.
“The advantage of this shunt is that it will keep on draining the water inside the brain and no surgeries would be required in future. The brain produces around 600 ml of water in 24 hours but only 120 to 125 ml remains inside. The rest is drained out of the system through blood capillaries but in Hydrocephalus, this excess water keeps accumulating inside the brain,” said head of the department Professor Raj Kumar and professor Ved Prakash.
“This situation causes a number of problems in an individual as excess fluid builds up in the ventricles (cavities) of the brain, enlarging the size of cavities and puts excessive pressure on the brain. A cerebrospinal fluid flows into the spinal cord and brain but if left untreated, excess cerebrospinal fluid pressure destroys brain tissue and can cause severe brain damage,” they added.
“The SGPGI surgeons are innovative and one of the best globally. They have successfully implanted a programmed shunt in a 55-year-old patient suffering from hydrocephalus (normal pressure) for the first time. The specialty of this shunt is that the amount of water which has to be flown out can be controlled from outside by a programmed device,” professor Raj Kumar said.
