CASE REPORTS   

Journal of Neurosurgical Sciences 2001 September;45(3):171-6

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Normal pressure hydrocephalus and basilar artery aneurysm. Case report and pathogenetic consideration

Capocchi C. ¹, Anile C. ², Silvestrelli G. ¹, Gallai V. ¹

¹ Department of Neuroscience, University of Perugia, Italy; ² Institute of Neurosurgery, University Catholic “A. Gemelli”, Rome, Italy

The ­authors ­describe the ­case of a 60-­year-old ­patient ­with bas­i­lar ­artery aneu­rysm who in ­time devel­oped nor­mal pres­sure hydro­ceph­a­lus (NPH). Clinical exam­ina­tions and labor­a­to­ry ­tests did not ­reveal oth­er ­data ­from ­which the pathol­o­gy ­could be attrib­ut­ed to caus­es oth­er ­than the vas­cu­lar mal­for­ma­tion ­already con­sid­ered. The mechan­i­cal obstruc­tion exert­ed by the aneu­rysm ­lodged on the ­floor of the ­third ven­tri­cle rep­re­sents, accord­ing to the ­authors, the phys­io­pa­thog­e­net­ic mech­a­nism by ­which a tem­po­ral ­delay is devel­oped ­between the endo­ven­tric­u­lar pul­sa­tion and ­that of the cere­bral ­veins so as to pro­duce a pre­cise pul­sa­tile gra­di­ent in a cen­trif­u­gal direc­tion to ­allow the for­ma­tion of an ­active hydro­ceph­a­lus pro­por­tion­al to the ­entity of cere­bro­spi­nal ­fluid (CSF) ­pulse.