Hydrocephalus – The Condition

24 April,2021

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Introduction

Hydrocephalus is commonly known as ‘water on the brain’. A watery fluid, known as cerebro-spinal fluid or CSF, is produced constantly inside each of the four spaces or ventricles inside the brain. The CSF normally flows through narrow pathways from one ventricle to the next, then out over the outside of the brain and down the spinal cord. The CSF is absorbed into the bloodstream and re-circulates, and the amount and pressure are normally kept within a fairly narrow range. If the drainage pathways are blocked at any point, the fluid accumulates in the ventricles inside the brain, causing them to swell and resulting in compression of the surrounding tissue. In babies and infants, the head will enlarge. In older children and adults, the head size cannot increase as the bones, which form the skull, are completely joined together.

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