Is decreased ventricular volume a correlate of positive clinical outcome following shunt placement in cases of normal pressure XXXX ?

@entity1 @entity340 @entity1276
It is well known that in @entity1 with communicating @entity1276 or normal pressure @entity1276 , ventricular volume decreases following implantation of differential pressure valved shunts. @entity340 (Miethke dual-switch valves) were implanted in 60 normal pressure @entity1276 @entity1 at Unfallkrankenhaus Berlin between September 1997 and September 2001. One year postoperatively, these @entity1 underwent CT scan, and their ventricular size was ascertained using the Evans index. Although 77% of these @entity1 showed no postoperative change in ventricular volume, 65% nonetheless showed good to excellent clinical improvement, 13% satisfactory improvement and 22% no improvement. A moderate reduction in ventricular size was observed in 17% of the @entity1 in our cohort. 40% of these @entity1 showed good to excellent clinical improvement, 20% satisfactory improvement, and 40% unsatisfactory improvement. A marked reduction in ventricular size was observed in 6% of our @entity1 . Of these latter @entity1 , 50% showed good to excellent outcomes, while 50% had unsatisfactory outcomes. The favorable outcomes following implantation of a hydrostatic shunt in @entity1 with normal pressure @entity1276 did not correlate with decreased ventricular volume one year after operation. Better clinical outcomes were observed in @entity1 with little or no alteration in ventricular size than in @entity1 with a marked decrease in ventricular size. Postoperative change in ventricular volume should be assessed differently for @entity1 with normal pressure @entity1276 than in @entity1 with hypertensive @entity1276 .
