Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Ian Coulter, Christopher CowieORCiD
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
© AANS 2021, except where prohibited by US copyright lawOBJECTIVE Perioperative management of hydrocephalus in children with posterior fossa tumors (PFTs) remains challenging. The modified Canadian Preoperative Prediction Rule for Hydrocephalus (mCPPRH) has been previously described as a useful tool in predicting which children are at higher risk for permanent hydrocephalus following PFT resection and can be used in guiding treatment. The aim of this study was to externally validate this predictive model. METHODS A retrospective review of the children treated in a single unit was conducted, recording all of the mCPPRH parameters (age, preoperative radiological diagnosis, presence of moderate/severe hydrocephalus, transependymal edema, and metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis), the need for a CSF diversion procedure at 6 months, time to surgery, and management of hydrocephalus. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted using the mCPPRH, age, Evans index (EI), and frontooccipital horn ratio (FOHR), and an area under the curve (AUC) was calculated. A point-biserial correlation was run to determine the relationship between time to surgery, the insertion of an external ventricular drain (EVD), or initial EVD clamping and the development of postoperative persistent hydrocephalus. RESULTS From a total of 75 patients (mean age 6.99 years, 62.7% male) who were included in the study, 8 (10.7%) required permanent CSF diversion following PFT resection. The AUC of the ROC curve was 0.618 for the mCPPRH (p = 0.18, SE 0.088, 95% CI 0.446-0.791), 0.633 for age (p = 0.26, SE 0.119, 95% CI 0.4-0.867), 0.604 for the EI (p = 0.34, SE 0.11, 95% CI 0.389-0.818), and 0.663 for the FOHR (p = 0.17, SE 0.121, 95% CI 0.427-0.9). A significant positive correlation between EVD insertion (r = 0.239, p = 0.03) and insertion of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt was found. A negative correlation between the postoperative clamping of the EVD (r = −0.158, p = 0.4) and the time to PFT surgery (r = −0.06, p = 0.6) did not reach statistical significance. CONCLUSIONS The implementation of the mCPPRH score failed to reliably predict which children would require permanent CSF diversion following PFT resection when applied to this cohort. Clinical judgment remains the mainstay of choosing the perioperative treatment of hydrocephalus.
Author(s): Pitsika M, Fletcher J, Coulter IC, Cowie CJA
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics
Year: 2021
Volume: 28
Issue: 2
Pages: 121-127
Print publication date: 01/08/2021
Online publication date: 28/05/2021
Acceptance date: 04/01/2021
ISSN (print): 1933-0707
ISSN (electronic): 1933-0715
Publisher: American Association of Neurological Surgeons
URL: https://doi.org/10.3171/2021.1.PEDS20887
DOI: 10.3171/2021.1.PEDS20887
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
