Childhood Hydrocephalus: A Snapshot of the Clinical Workload and its Implications on the Nhs Budget

The diagnosis and management of hydrocephalus, a condition described since the time of Hippocrates, 1 continues to pose a significant burden on current neurosurgical practice. 2 With a reported incidence of 1 in 1,000 newborn infants, 3 this condition is seen and handled by a wide spectrum of healthcare professionals from community-based social workers to specialists in tertiary referral centres. Furthermore, this is a condition that is usually not cured but rather managed and as such typically remains with the patient throughout his or her life, resulting in enormous socio-economic costs. An extensive review of the US national inpatient sample database for 2000 put the cost of treating hydrocephalus using ventricular shunts at $1 billion per year.