Summary:  The Commission on Neurosurgery of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) formed the Pediatric Epilepsy Surgery Subcommission in 1998 and charged it with formulating guidelines and recommendations for epilepsy surgery in childhood. Also endorsed by the Commission on Paediatrics, the following document is the consensus agreement after a meeting of 32 individuals from 12 countries in 2003. The panel agreed that insufficient class 1 evidence exists to recommend practice guidelines at this time. Instead, the panel generated criteria concerning the unique features of pediatric epilepsy patients to justify dedicated resources for specialty pediatric surgical centers, suggested guidelines for physicians for when to refer children with refractory epilepsy, and recommendations on presurgical evaluation and postoperative assessments. The panel also outlined areas of agreement and disagreement on which future research and consensus meetings should focus attention to generate practice guidelines and criteria for pediatric epilepsy surgery centers.

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A case of dilatation of the right lateral ventricle due to membranous occlusion of the foramen of Monro is reported. A child aged two and a half years developed raised intracranial pressure together with disturbed consciousness, but other neurological defect, two months after after an attack of bilateral broncopneumonia. The preoperative diagnosis of occlusion of the right foramen of Monro by infiltrating tumour was made angiographically. At operation the obstruction was found to be due to a membrane. The septum lucidum was fenestrated and a ventriculoatrial shunt was inserted. After a year the shunt was removed. Twenty eight cases of unilateral hydrocephalus due to nontumorous occlusion of the foramen of Monro have been reviewed, and the aetiologies have been discussed. Clinical picture and diagnostic procedures are reviewed. The authors discuss surgical treatment, and lay stress on fenestration of the septum lucidum.

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100 cases of Spitz-Holter shunts performed for hydrocephalus over a period of 3 years were analyzed; 17 of these were of posttraumatic origin and are discussed in regard to pathogenesis, clinical symptoms, diagnostic methods, and therapy. Half of these 17 had severe traffic accidents. The rapidity and degree of ventricular dilatation were positively correlated with the duration of unconsciousness. When the unconsciousness had lasted more than 10 days hydrocephalus was recognized early, and the shunt was performed on an average 2 months after the trauma. Two thirds of the patients improved after the shunt operation. Pathogenetically we believe the important factors in the acute stages are increased CSF pressure, disturbed CSF dynamics, brain swelling and vascular circulation disorder; in the chronic stages, parenchymous atrophy. The following 3 types of posttraumatic hydrocephalus were differentiated on the basis of the clinical features: --symmetrical communicating internal hydrocephalus with malresorption, especially after subarachnoid hemorrhage, --communicating internal hydrocephalus alone, or in combination with external hydrocephalus resulting from atrophy, --internal occlusive hydrocephalus after trauma. The following posttraumatic clinical features were found to be indications that hydrocephalus may be present: in the acute stages inadequately long symptom resolution considering the severity of the trauma, secondary changes for the worse, an apallic syndrome which does not improve; in late stages, the presence of an Adams-Hakim syndrome charaterized by dementia, a spastic gait and loss of sphincter control. The most successful diagnostic methods were found to be pneumencephalography with 24 and 48 h delayed exposures, cisternoscintigraphy and continuous intracranial pressure monitoring in combination with the spinal infusion test. The most important intracranial shunting procedures and the indications for shunting are discussed.