Normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) is classically characterized by a symptom triad of gait disturbance or difficulty walking, mild dementia, and impaired bladder control.
To-date, NPH represents one of the few treatable causes of dementia and therein alone lies the imperative to diagnosis.
Signs of a normal pressure hydrocephalus
- frontal lobe apraxia / ataxia → broad gait
- bilateral pyramidal signs
- dementia – loss short-term memory
- incontinence
- (buccolingual dyskinesia)
Differential diagnosis
- Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH)
- Head injury
Articles of Interest
Devere, Ronald. Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: A treatable cause of dementia. Practical Neurology. Sep 2018. Available at https://practicalneurology.com/articles/2018-sept/normal-pressure-hydrocephalus.
Kiefer, Andreas. “The Differential Diagnosis and Treatment
of Normal-Pressure Hydrocephalus.” Dtsch Arztebl Int 2012; 109(1–2): 15–26.
Downloads
Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: Diagnosis and Treatment – Shprecher (2008)
Normal-pressure hydrocephalus: A critical review – Oliveira (2019)
