What is Hydrocephalus?
Hydrocephalus is the abnormal accumulation of fluid in the brain. Hydrocephalus is a Greek word meaning "water on the brain", but it is actually not water on the brain, it is cerebrospinal fluid, also known as CSF. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) surrounds the brain and spinal cord, and it plays a very important role in brain function and health.
What animals does hydrocephalus affect?
Hydrocephalus is known to affect many different types of animals, but mainly cats, dogs, and humans. This includes the Boston terrier, Chihuahua, English bulldog, and many more. Cats like the Persian cat, Siamese cat, or the Manx cat can also be diagnosed. Some other animals like cows, horses, and even bears!!!!!! Really any animal with a brain and cerebrospinal fluid could have hydrocephalus.
Causes
There are two main types of hydrocephalus in dogs: congenital (present at birth) and acquired.
Congenital hydrocephalus is a birth defect most often associated with a dome-shaped skull, a large fontanel (“soft spot”) on top of the skull, and eyes that appear to gaze downward.
Acquired hydrocephalus develops when the flow of CSF is blocked or altered by infection, tumor, or swelling. The most common cause of acquired hydrocephalus is a brain tumor.
Congenital hydrocephalus is a birth defect most often associated with a dome-shaped skull, a large fontanel (“soft spot”) on top of the skull, and eyes that appear to gaze downward.
Acquired hydrocephalus develops when the flow of CSF is blocked or altered by infection, tumor, or swelling. The most common cause of acquired hydrocephalus is a brain tumor.
Symptoms
The most common symptoms include
- domed head
- wide eyes
- seizures
- blindness
Treatment
There is no cure for hydrocephalus, but they do have medicine and surgery that can help the patient. If it is not severe they will give the animal drugs (medicine). If it is severe they with have to go in and do surgery. In the surgery they place a shunt witch drains the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) somewhere else in the body to be absorbed. In general, the earlier a shunt is placed, the better the long term recovery is.