Shunt Operations Could Improve Dementia Outcome

Patients who undergo a shunt operation are more likely to experience a reduction in the number and intensity of symptoms related to varied forms of dementia, scientists write in a new research paper.

The team arrived at this conclusion after it conducted a series of studies on patients, which involved all of the participants getting brain surgery. Half of the test subjects were given functional shunts from the get-go, while the other half got a closed shunt, that was only opened three months after implantation.

A total of 14 test subjects underwent either of this procedures, with an additional patient receiving a placebo, or sham, operation. This means that the surgeons did not really put anything in their heads.

The work was conducted by experts at the University of Gothenburg and the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and its results were published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Neurosurgery.

This is the first investigation ever to demonstrate that the changes caused in the human brain by dementia, such as for example variations of white matter masses, or hydrocephalus, can be mitigate with a surgical procedure.

All of the patients in the clinical trials were followed up for at least 3 and a half years, so that experts could figure out the long-term effects of wearing the shunt implants, AlphaGalileo reports.

“For obvious reasons, [using a placebo] is problematic in a surgical context and surgical placebo studies are highly unusual,” explains study investigator Magnus Tisell.

“However, if you can actually do this kind of study, the level of evidence is the highest possible – class 1,” adds the expert, who is a docent at the Sahlgrenska Academy, and also a consultant neurosurgeon at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital.

“Shunt operations have long been used for hydrocephalus, but this study offers more scientifically conclusive results to support the effect of the treatment, and also shows that shunt operations can help far more patients than previously believed with their walking and memory,” he goes on to say.

The main effect of implanting the shunts was that dementia patients began to exhibit marked improvements in their mental functions, and also in their ability to walk properly.

“We believe that far more patients than is currently the case could benefit from a shunt operation, which will require more resources,” Tisell explains.

“We also need to find out more about which patients are good candidates for the operation and which shunt is best in each particular case,” the expert concludes.