Introduction:

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus is a clinical complex characterized by impaired gait, urinary incontinence and deterioration of mental status. Currently, there is not a standardized diagnostic scheme. The endoscopic third ventriculostomy began to be used a few years ago due to the high rate of complications of the derivative systems, but the prognostic factors of its success have not yet been clearly defined, and its indication is questioned.

Objective:

To describe role of endoscopic third ventriculostomy in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

Methods:

A literature review was performed in PUBMED and preprint servers BioRxiv, MedRxiv and preprint.org. Articles from the last 15 years were selected without the application of language filters. The following descriptors Normal pressure hydrocephalus AND Endoscopic third ventriculostomy were used. Only those articles with the full text available were selected.

Results:

A total of 430 articles were identified. Ten investigations about endoscopic third ventriculostomy in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus were analyzed, 8 were retrospective studies with 62.5% of them with a sample of less than 15 patients, in addition to two cohort studies.

Conclusions:

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy has been relatively successful in treating carefully selected patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus. It is a safe and effective procedure, aimed at improving intracranial compliance through the restoration of cerebral pulsatility, and its influence on the dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid.

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