Neuroscience · Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
A review examines the brain’s fluid-clearance pathways and their connections with the body’s lymphatic, immune and vascular systems. It links impaired clearance with pathological protein buildup, inflammation and vascular dysfunction, while emphasizing that most therapeutic evidence comes from animal studies.
A five-year-old child developed repeated right-sided tension pneumothorax after receiving a ventriculoperitoneal shunt for hydrocephalus. A contrast study showed an abnormal connection between the shunt and the bronchial tree; chest drainage and repositioning the shunt were followed by rapid improvement.
Researchers reviewed 77 studies published from 1990 through 2023 to estimate how often neurocysticercosis—a brain infection caused by the larval stage of a tapeworm—occurred among people with epileptic seizures. Across studies with clear definitions and appropriate testing, the estimated proportion was 25.2%, but the studies differed substantially and the result should not be treated as universal.
A retrospective study of 53 infants with Chiari II–associated hydrocephalus found that combining endoscopic third ventriculostomy with choroid plexus cauterization helped many avoid long-term shunt surgery. Success rates were higher in older infants, and complications still occurred, with meningitis the most common.
