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The Epidemiology of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

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Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

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Abstract

Summarising accurate epidemiological data regarding normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is a complex task: for example, defining NPH varies across guidelines, various methodological approaches are utilised, different populations are studied, clinical signs are sometimes difficult to distinguish from those of the normal ageing process, and radiological signs are not necessarily specific to NPH. It would thus be unwise to simplify the complex question of NPH epidemiology to a mean number as this would not reflect the diverse patient population, methods of patient selection, and data processing used by different authors. Taking into consideration the frequency of shunt surgery, NPH remains an underdiagnosed condition of potentially treatable dementia. Both the incidence and prevalence of NPH increase with age. NPH is probably more common among the male gender and shows interesting traits among specific patient populations. For future studies, a unified approach with standardised data recording and strict adherence to international guidelines is necessary.

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Abbreviations

AD:

Alzheimer’s disease

A-E guidelines:

American-European guidelines for NPH diagnostics

ICP:

Intracranial pressure

MRI:

Magnetic resonance imaging

NIS:

National inpatient sample

NPH:

Normal pressure hydrocephalus

iNPH:

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

NIS:

Nationwide inpatient sample

PD:

Parkinson’s disease

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Motol University Hospital, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jakub Táborský, Jana Blažková Jr. & Vladimír Beneš 3rd

Authors
  1. Jakub Táborský
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  2. Jana Blažková Jr.
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  3. Vladimír Beneš 3rd
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Correspondence to Vladimír Beneš 3rd .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, 2nd Medical School, Motol University Hospital, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Ondrej Bradac

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Táborský, J., Blažková, J., Beneš, V. (2023). The Epidemiology of Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. In: Bradac, O. (eds) Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36522-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36522-5_4

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-36521-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-36522-5

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