A Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) leak is the result of the leakage of the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. A hole or tear in the membrane surrounding spinal cord (dura) and brain leads to CSF leak. The leakage may be the result of head injury, spinal or brain surgery, pain medication and lumbar puncture.
There are several clinics for CSF leak treatment in Houston and other states with the team of experienced doctors. Let's look at the common questions these physicians address when consulting the patients with CSF leak problem.
Question 1: Do patients leak at just one or multiple locations? How often does a physician get cases of multiple leaks and what triggers this situation?
Answer: Most of the patients have a single CSF leak problem and cases of multiple leaks occur only in 10 percent of the patients. If we particularly talk about multiple spinal CSF leaks, these don't occur in specific circumstances and may happen to a patient with a generalized connective tissue disorder or to someone with no history of connective tissue disorder.
Question 2: What is the reason of re-leak in some patients?
Answer: There is no clear explanation as to why some patients get recurrent CSF leak, but a more or less trivial traumatic event increases the re-leak symptoms. A rebound CSF hypertension may also be the reason behind the re-leak.
Question 3: Is the feeling of intense pain or downward pressure along with neurological symptoms, a sign of severe brain descent?
Answer: There's a low level of correlation between a severe headache and magnitude of brain descent. Neurological symptoms such as cranial neuropathies, hypersomnolence and dementia are associated with brain decent.
Question 4: Is there a possibility of CSF leak happening without any headache?
Answer: Patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension don't get a headache during a CSF leak. It is although a rare symptom, but present in chronic spinal CSF leak.
Question 5: Is there any chance of CSF leak healing without medical intervention?
Answer: The question is difficult to answer with medical certainty but some patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension who had symptoms for a few hours, days or weeks recovered without seeking medical treatment. It might, however, take spontaneous CSF leak anything between hours to decades to heal.
Question 6: How soon the patient need to consult the doctor for treatment of CSF leak?
Answer: CSF leaks treated early have a better prognosis in comparison to those treated later. It is always better to consult a doctor as early as an individual notices the symptoms of CSF leak.
It is always better for the patient to consult an experienced doctor to get the right course of treatment for CSF leak. Always clarify the doubts and ask questions to the doctor as this develops a better understanding of the problem and contributes to faster recovery.
Summary
CSF leak could occur spontaneously without showing any symptoms. The post covers some of the doubts related to the problem and their solutions.
Must Read: Cerebral Spinal Fluid – The Problem and Treatment
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