Patient Risk Factors Associated With 30- and 90-Day Readmission After Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Placement for Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus in Elderly Patients: A Nationwide Readmission Study

X-linked hydrocephalus genes: Their proximity to telomeres and high A + T content compared to Parkinson's disease

Proximity to telomeres (i) and high adenine and thymine (A + T) content (ii) are two factors associated with high mutation rates in human chromosomes. We have previously shown that >100 human genes when mutated to cause congenital hydrocephalus (CH) meet either factor (i) or (ii) at 91% matching, while two factors are poorly satisfied in human genes associated with familial Parkinson's disease (fPD) at 59%. Using the sets of mouse, rat, and human chromosomes, we found that 7 genes associated with CH were located on the X chromosome of mice, rats, and humans. However, genes associated with fPD were in different autosomes depending on species. While the contribution of proximity to telomeres in the autosome was comparable in CH and fPD, high A + T content played a pivotal contribution in X-linked CH (43% in all three species) than in fPD (6% in rodents or 13% in humans). Low A + T content found in fPD cases suggests that PARK family genes harbor roughly 3 times higher chances of methylations in CpG sites or epigenetic changes than X-linked genes.

Hospital Frailty Risk Score Predicts Adverse Events and Readmission Following a Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Surgery for Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a Hospital Frailty Risk Score (HFRS) on unplanned readmission and health care resource utilization in normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) patients undergoing a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt surgery.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study was performed using the 2016-2019 Nationwide Readmission Database. All NPH patients (≥60 years) undergoing a VP shunt surgery were identified using ICD-10-CM diagnostic and procedural codes. Patients were dichotomized into 2 cohorts as follows: Low HFRS (<5) and Intermediate-High HFRS (≥5). A multivariate logistic regression analysis was then used to identify independent predictors of adverse event (AE) and 30- and 90-day readmission.

RESULTS

Of 13,262 patients, 4386 (33.1%) had an Intermediate-High HFRS score. A greater proportion of the Intermediate-High HFRS cohort experienced at least one AE (1.9 vs. 22.1, P < 0.001). The Intermediate-High HFRS cohort also had a longer length of stay (2.3 ± 2.4 days vs. 7.0 ± 7.7 days, P < 0.001), higher non-routine discharge rate (19.9% vs. 39.9%, P < 0.001), and greater admission cost ($14,634 ± 5703 vs. $21,749 ± 15,234, P < 0.001). The Intermediate-High HFRS cohort had higher rates of 30- (7.6% vs. 11.0%, P < 0.001) and 90-day (6.8% vs. 8.3%, P < 0.001) readmissions. On a multivariate regression analysis, Intermediate-High HFRS compared to Low HFRS was an independent predictor of any AE (odds ratio, 16.6; 95% confidence interval, [12.9-21.5]; P < 0.001) and 30-day readmission (odds ratio, 1.4; 95% confidence interval, [1.2-1.7]; P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study suggests that frailty, as defined by HFRS, is associated with increased resource utilization in NPH patients undergoing VP shunt surgery. Furthermore, HFRS was an independent predictor of adverse events and 30-day hospital readmission.

Failure of Internal Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunt: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Overall Prevalence in Adults

OBJECTIVE

Reported rates of failures of internal cerebrospinal fluid shunt (ICSFS) vary greatly from less than 5% to more than 50% and no meta-analysis to assess the overall prevalence has been performed. We estimated the failure rate after ICSFS insertion and searched for associated factors.

METHODS

Six databases were searched from January 1990 to February 2022. Only original articles reporting the rate of adult shunt failure were included. Random-effects meta-analysis with a generalized linear mixed model method and logit transformation was used to compute the overall failure prevalence. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were implemented to search for associated factors.

RESULTS

Of 1763 identified articles, 46 were selected, comprising 70,859 ICSFS implantations and 13,603 shunt failures, suggesting an accumulated incidence of 19.2%. However, the calculated pooled prevalence value and its 95% confidence interval (CI) were 22.7% (95% CI, 19.8-5.8). The CI of the different estimates did not overlap, indicating a strong heterogeneity confirmed by a high I² of 97.5% (95% CI, 97.1-97.8; P < 0.001; τ² = 0.3). Ninety-five percent prediction interval of shunt failure prevalence ranged from 8.75% to 47.36%. A meta-regression of prevalence of publication found a barely significant decreasing failure rate of about 2% per year (-2.11; 95% CI, -4.02 to -0.2; P = 0.031).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite being a simple neurosurgical procedure, ICSFS insertion has one of the highest risk of complications, with failure prevalence involving more than 1 patient of 5. Nonetheless, all efforts to lower this high level of shunt failure seem to be effective.

Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Failure 3-year after Shunt Surgery Caused by Migration of Detached Ventricular Catheter into the Cranium: A Case Study of Idiopathic Normal-pressure Hydrocephalus

Idiopathic normal-pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a neurological disorder that typically presents with gait disturbance, cognitive impairment, and urinary incontinence. Although most patients respond to cerebrospinal-fluid shunting, some do not react well because of shunt failure. A 77-year-old female with iNPH underwent ventriculoperitoneal shunt implantation, and her gait impairment, cognitive dysfunction, and urge urinary incontinence improved. However, 3 years after shunting (at the age of 80), her symptoms gradually recurred for 3 months and she did not respond to shunt valve adjustment. Imaging studies revealed that the ventricular catheter detached from the shunt valve and migrated into the cranium. With immediate revision of the ventriculoperitoneal shunt, her gait disturbance, cognitive dysfunction, and urinary incontinence improved. When a patient whose symptoms have been relieved by cerebrospinal-fluid shunting experiences an exacerbation, it is important to suspect shunt failure, even if many years have passed since the surgery. Identifying the position of the catheter is crucial to determine the cause of shunt failure. Prompt shunt surgery for iNPH can be beneficial, even in elderly patients.

TRPV4 mRNA is elevated in the caudate nucleus with NPH but not in Alzheimer's disease

Symptoms of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) are somewhat similar, and it is common to misdiagnose these two conditions. Although there are fluid markers detectable in humans with NPH and AD, determining which biomarker is optimal in representing genetic characteristics consistent throughout species is poorly understood. Here, we hypothesize that NPH can be differentiated from AD with mRNA biomarkers of unvaried proximity to telomeres. We examined human caudate nucleus tissue samples for the expression of transient receptor potential cation channel subfamily V member 4 (TRPV4) and amyloid precursor protein (APP). Using the genome data viewer, we analyzed the mutability of TRPV4 and other genes in mice, rats, and humans through matching nucleotides of six genes of interest and one house keeping gene with two factors associated with high mutation rate: 1) proximity to telomeres or 2) high adenine and thymine (A + T) content. We found that TRPV4 and microtubule associated protein tau (MAPT) mRNA were elevated in NPH. In AD, mRNA expression of TRPV4 was unaltered unlike APP and other genes. In mice, rats, and humans, the nucleotide size of TRPV4 did not vary, while in other genes, the sizes were inconsistent. Proximity to telomeres in TRPV4 was <50 Mb across species. Our analyses reveal that TRPV4 gene size and mutability are conserved across three species, suggesting that TRPV4 can be a potential link in the pathophysiology of chronic hydrocephalus in aged humans (>65 years) and laboratory rodents at comparable ages.