Auditory Evoked Potentials in idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

• Grant number: 22/04852-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2023
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Speech Therapy
• Principal Investigator: Carla Gentile Matas
• Grantee: Liliane Aparecida Fagundes Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina (FM). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Idiopathic Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a syndrome featured by a clinical triad, namely, gait disturbance, urinary incontinence and cognitive dysfunction, that is caused by increase of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the brain's ventricles, without an underlying cause. The treatment is through shunt surgery in order to drain the CSF, but the diagnosis of iNPH is complex and clinical resources are lacking to accurately determine which patients would benefit from surgical intervention. In order to momentarily simulate the effect and predict the shunt prognosis, the Tap test is indicated, which consists of assessment of gait and cognitive functions before and after CSF tap, however this test still has low clinical specificity, requiring complementary methods to assist in the evaluation of the functional capacity in order to increase the accuracy in the diagnosis of iNPH. Thus, the objective of this study will be to evaluate the effectiveness of the use of Auditory Brainstem Responses (ABR) and Cortical Auditory Evoked Potentials (CAEP) as an auxiliary tool in the diagnosis and treatment of iNPH, since they are tools capable of measuring the activity bioelectricity of the neural pathways, as well as reflecting abilities of auditory and cognitive function. For this, 100 individuals with suspected iNPH, of both sexes, will be longitudinally evaluated using ABR and CAEP one day before the Tap test, immediately after and three months after the CSF tap, for comparison of results and association of the electrophysiological assessment responses with the other neuropsychological assessments, gait assessment and clinical status. The results will be evaluated through statistical and inferential analysis.