A Pressure Adjustment Protocol for Programmable Valves

Objective : There is no definite adjustment protocol for patients shunted with programmable valves. Therefore, we attempted to find an appropriate method to adjust the valve, initial valve-opening pressure, adjustment scale, adjustment time interval, and final valve-opening pressure of a programmable valve. Methods : Seventy patients with hydrocephalus of various etiologies were shunted with programmable shunting devices (Micro Valve with $RICKHAM^{(R)}$ Reservoir). The most common initial diseases were subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and head trauma. Sixty-six patients had a communicating type of hydrocephalus, and 4 had an obstructive type of hydrocephalus. Fifty-one patients had normal pressure-type hydrocephalus and 19 patients had high pressure-type hydrocephalus. We set the initial valve pressure to $10-30\;mmH_2O$, which is lower than the preoperative lumbar tapping pressure or the intraoperative ventricular tapping pressure, conducted brain computerized tomographic (CT) scans every 2 to 3 weeks, correlated results with clinical symptoms, and reset valve-opening pressures. Results : Initial valve-opening pressures varied from 30 to $180\;mmH_2O$ (mean, $102{\pm}27.5\;mmH_2O$). In high pressure-type hydrocephalus patients, we have set the initial valve-opening pressure from 100 to $180\;mmH_2O$. We decreased the valve-opening pressure $20-30\;mmH_2O$ at every 2- or 3-week interval, until hydrocephalus-related symptoms improved and the size of the ventricle was normalized. There were 154 adjustments in 81 operations (mean, 1.9 times). In 19 high pressure-type patients, final valve-opening pressures were $30-160\;mmH_2O$, and 16 (84%) patients' symptoms had nearly improved completely. However, in 51 normal pressure-type patients, only 31 (61%) had improved. Surprisingly, in 22 of the 31 normal pressure-type improved patients, final valve-opening pressures were $30\;mmH_2O$ (16 patients) and $40\;mmH_2O$ (6 patients). Furthermore, when final valve-opening pressures were adjusted to $30\;mmH_2O$, 14 patients symptom was improved just at the point. There were 18 (22%) major complications : 7 subdural hygroma, 6 shunt obstructions, and 5 shunt infections. Conclusion : In normal pressure-type hydrocephalus, most patients improved when the final valve-opening pressure was $30\;mmH_2O$. We suggest that all normal pressure-type hydrocephalus patients be shunted with programmable valves, and their initial valve-opening pressures set to $10-30\;mmH_2O$ below their preoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressures. If final valve-opening pressures are lowered in 20 or $30\;mmH_2O$ scale at 2- or 3-week intervals, reaching a final pressure of $30\;mmH_2O$, we believe that there is a low risk of overdrainage syndromes.