How is hydrocephalus contracted

For every disease, we must first understand the cause of the disease before we can prescribe the right medicine. Hydrocephalus is considered a relatively serious brain disease because after suffering from hydrocephalus, the patient will obviously experience problems such as dizziness, vomiting, and blurred vision. Congenital hydrocephalus is a congenital disease caused by women not paying attention to their own health during pregnancy. What are the causes of acquired hydrocephalus?

Causes and mechanisms

Hydrocephalus can be caused by many reasons, the most common of which are intracranial inflammation, cerebral vascular malformations, brain trauma, various endogenous or exogenous neurotoxins, hypoxia, water and electrolyte disorders, acidosis, liver and kidney failure, etc., which can cause fluid accumulation in the brain tissue through different mechanisms.

Blockage of cerebrospinal fluid circulation

⑴ Congenital malformations: Parents may have been exposed to certain chemical radioactive substances during pregnancy, which may cause gene mutations. It is also related to fever in early pregnancy, taking certain medications, abnormal fetal position, and excessive amniotic fluid. The more common malformations include spina bifida and cerebral aqueduct stenosis.

⑵ Infection: such as purulent meningitis, tuberculous meningitis, ventriculitis, etc., due to the proliferation of fibrous tissue blocking the circulation channels of cerebrospinal fluid, it is particularly common in the fourth ventricle foramen and the subarachnoid space at the bottom of the brain, resulting in hydrocephalus.

⑶ Bleeding: Fibrosis after intracranial hemorrhage can cause hydrocephalus. Malabsorption of intracranial hemorrhage after birth trauma is also a common cause of hydrocephalus in neonates and is often easily overlooked. Subarachnoid hemorrhage after brain trauma causes arachnoid adhesion and hydrocephalus.

⑷ Tumor: Intracranial tumors can block any part of the cerebrospinal fluid circulation pathway. They are more common near the fourth ventricle. Tumors are rarely seen in the neonatal period. Later, gliomas, ventricular choroid plexus papilloma, ependymoma, and neuroblastoma may occur.

Excessive secretion of cerebrospinal fluid

There are many theories about the etiology of congenital hydrocephalus. The generally accepted theory is that the choroid plexus in the lateral ventricles proliferates and secretes vigorously, causing dysfunction in the choroid plexus' secretion of cerebrospinal fluid, thus causing hydrocephalus.

CSF absorption disorder

For example, hydrocephalus may occur due to cerebrospinal fluid absorption disorders caused by fetal meningitis.