Normal-pressure hydrocephalus and the Hakim valve
Hidrocefalia normotensiva y válvula de Hakim
- Date
- c. 1960-1965 · confidence medium
- Place
- San Juan de Dios Hospital, Bogotá, Colombia
- Credited to
- Salomón Hakim (with Raymond Adams)
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
The Colombian neurosurgeon described a hydrocephalus with normal cerebrospinal-fluid pressure, treatable by shunting, and designed a pressure-regulated valve (the Hakim valve). This made an apparently irreversible dementia treatable.
The key paper (Hakim and Adams, 1965) was published from Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital; the initial observation and valve design are credited to Hakim in Bogotá around 1957-1964.
What it led to
- Surgical treatment of a reversible dementia
- Adjustable ventriculoperitoneal shunt valves
- Geriatric neurology