Post ETV issues
 

My niece was diagnosed with Hydrocephalus during the 6th month of pregnancy. The doctors suggested the shunt surgery, which was performed on the second day of birth. This happened on 7th September, 2007. Later following a couple of complications of the Shunt, they performed ETV on her in January (5 months old). She is fine now and behaves no different than ordinary. Only concern is the head weight. Though she tries to roll over, but due to the heavy (for her) head, she struggles. Do we have any ayurvedic or Homeopathy treatment for this?

Thanks a lot in advance..

Manoj.

Homeopathy will do nothing for head weight. She needs physical and occupational therapy to strenghten her neck muscles so she can hold her head up and continue to learn to be mobile.

I will tell you that crawling is difficult for most of us. I'm 41, dx'ed at 3 weeks old, and never crawled. I was a butt-scooter and then one day, just before 2 yo, got up and walked. Because of her head size and weight, it will take some time for her to be able to develop the strength in her neck, and eventually, she will compensate for her head size.

Also, her ETV should be monitored carefully, as they have an obscenely high failure rate in infants.


Good luck, and please ask any questions at anytime. I'll do what I can to help. :)

LIZARD :)

Etv
 

I had an ETV procedure in December 2002 when I was 13 years old. I had a VP shunt since I was a little baby and had problem as soon as I hit puberty when I was 9 years old.

I have had five ETV procedure because of scar tissue accumulation. But seven procedures since I had my VP shunt removed in 2002. Now in 2009, my last procedure was done on August 4th 2008 because of scar tissue surrounding the third and fourth ventricle where my neurosurgeon made several burr holes.

Since then I continue to have headaches spreadically throughout the week with no apparent reason.

I think you have to weigh your options. Also know your medical history because I can no longer have a VP shunt because of pseudocyst in my abdomen. The only options for me is to continue with the ETV procedure to clear out scar tissue or two VA shunts connected in the third and forth ventricles.

One crazy symptom I have is when I lay down flat I get lightheaded. My neurosurgeon said he rewired the CSF to flow just about anywhere so it would not get clogged up again.

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