[Clinico-neuropsychological observations of patients with aresorptive hydrocephalus]

Clinical and neuropsychological examinations were made in 33 patients with post-bleeding hydrocephalus. The neuropsychological syndrome in aresorptive hydrocephalus due to ruptures both of arterial aneurysms and of arteriovenous malformations was shown to appear as dysfunction of frontal and diencephalic regions of the brain. It included disorientation, inertness, spontaneity, perseveration, awakening fluctuations, persistent memory dysfunctions and sluggish mentality. Neuropsychological symptoms were greatly dynamic. The level of awakening and orientation underwent rapid changes. The syndrome showed more frequently a milder regressive course in aresorptive hydrocephalus caused by ruptures of arteriovenous malformations than by those of arterial aneurysms; asymptomatic cerebral ventricular dilation being observed.