Predicting role of disturbance coefficient in post brain traumatic hydrocephalus

Objective To evaluate the predicting value of disturbance coefficient (DC) of noninvasive brain edema monitoring in patients with secondary hydrocephalus after traumatic brain injury. Methods Non-invasive brain edema monitoring technology was used clinically to perform dynamic monitor of 84 patients with traumatic brain injury admitted to Department of Neurosurgery, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University from December 2016 to January 2018. Among them, 17 had hydrocephalus (hydrocephalus group) and 67 did not (control group). The patient’s age, gender, Glasgow coma scale at admission, brain CT status, DC and hydrocephalus situation were compared between the 2 groups. Results Hydrocephalus occurred in 17 patients and 8 of them had normal pressure hydrocephalus. The median DC of patients with hydrocephalus was decreased by 35.2(25.7-48.1) and that of patients with no hydrocephalus was decreased by 8.3(5.2-11.1). The difference was statistically significant (P=0.008). The DC decrease of more than 18.0 (sensitivity: 92.5%; specificity: 88.2%) indicated the occurrence of hydrocephalus. Conclusions The decrease of DC in non-invasive brain edema monitoring could be used to predict the occurrence of early hydrocephalus. Higher continuous decrease of DC was related to greater probability of occurrence of intracranial hydrocephalus. Key words: Craniocerebral trauma; Hydrocephalus; Disturbance coefficient