There is no medical treatment for hydrocephalus.
Only surgical option remains. It is CSF diversion. It is a procedure that is used to divert fluid from brain and spinal cord to other parts of body. It can be done in two ways.
- external diversion: it is called ventriculo peritoneal shunt. In this procedure a thin tube called a shunt is implanted in the brain. The excess fluid in the brain flows through the tube into another part of the body usually tummy. From here it is absorbed into blood stream. In side the shunt there is a valve, which regulates the flow of CSF.
- Internal diversion: called endoscopic third ventriculostomy this is an alternative to ventriculo peritoneal shunt. Instead of inserting a shunt, the surgeon makes a hole in the skull and uses an endoscope to look inside the chambers of the brain. An endoscope is a thin tube with a light and camera in one end. A small hole is made inside the brain with the help of the endoscope. There is less infection in endoscopic ventriculostomy and the long-term results are similar to those of shunt surgery.