Can Shunt Response in Patients with Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Be Predicted from Preoperative Brain Imaging? A Retrospective Study of the Diagnostic Use of the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale in 119 Patients

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale is a combined scoring of 7 different structural imaging markers on preoperative brain CT or MR imaging in patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus: callosal angle, Evans Index, Sylvian fissure dilation, apical sulcal narrowing, mean temporal horn diameter, periventricular WM lesions, and focal sulcal dilation. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess the performance of the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale in distinguishing idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus shunt responders from nonresponders.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The preoperative MR imaging and CT scans of 119 patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus were scored using the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale. A summary shunt-response score assessed within 6 months from ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery, combining the effect on cognition, gait, and urinary incontinence, was used as a reference. The difference between the mean Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale for responders and nonresponders was tested using the Student t test. The area under the curve was calculated for the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale to assess shunt response. To ascertain reproducibility, we assessed the interobserver agreement between the 2 independent observers as intraclass correlation coefficients for the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale for 74 MR imaging scans and 19 CT scans.

RESULTS: Ninety-four (79%) of 119 patients were shunt responders. The mean Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale score for shunt responders was 8.35 (SD, 1.53), and for nonresponders, 7.48 (SD, 1.53) (P = .02). The area under the curve for the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale was 0.66 (range, 0.54-0.78). The intraclass correlation coefficient for the Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale was 0.86 for MR imaging and 0.82 for CT.

CONCLUSIONS: The Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus Radscale showed moderate discrimination for shunt response but cannot, on its own, be used for selecting patients with idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus for shunt surgery.