Miami Beach Woman's Symptoms Reversed
after Surgical Placement of Programmable Shunt in Her Brain

Sixty-eight-year-old Carmen Perez is a recently retired Miami-Dade County elementary school teacher who enjoys dividing her leisure time between caring for her family and traveling the world. By the summer of 2008, the mother of two had already been as far as Tibet and visited the holy sites in Israel. She was looking forward to planning her next adventure when she began to experience persistent exhaustion. At first, it simply interfered with her normal daily lifestyle, but in a matter of months, it hijacked her positive attitude and her seemingly never-ending energy level.

"I had just returned from a long trip, and I thought it was normal to feel tired, especially at my age," said Perez.

However, no amount of rest would help her regain her strength. Perez's mental and physical health took a turn for the worse. From one day to the next, her well-known quick wit and happy disposition faded. She began to experience memory loss and decreased vision, which was causing her to become unsteady on her feet. In addition, she began to experience bladder incontinence.

"I shut myself in my house," said Perez. "I didn't want to go to the doctor, see my friends or spend time with my family. I thought that my age had finally caught up with me, and I was ready to accept the fact that I had become old and useless."

Over the course of one year, Perez went from being an independent woman to being terrified of taking a single step on her own. She required the assistance of her daughter whose arm she would cling to just to take a few steps from the bedroom to the living room.

When her daughter was unavailable, Perez would carefully walk by pressing her body along the walls of her house to reach her destination. She eventually lost control of her bladder and became dependent on adult diapers. Simultaneously, her mind became clouded. She could not remember simple things like what she had for dinner or where she used to work. She still convinced herself that this was all part of growing old and did not seek out medical attention.

It wasn't until Perez fell and was taken to a hospital emergency room where she underwent x-rays and a CT scan to assess her injuries that she heard the words "normal pressure hydrocephalus."

Normal pressure hydrocephalus, or NPH, mainly occurs in people over the age of 60 and involves the buildup of fluid in the brain. Normally, that fluid circulates around the brain and spinal cord, but when it does not properly drain, it accumulates in the ventricles and interferes with healthy brain function. NPH most commonly affects the areas of the brain that control leg movement, bladder function, and memory. With proper diagnosis and treatment, many of these symptoms can be controlled or greatly reduced. In many cases, a complete recovery is possible.

Luckily, the astute emergency room doctor was familiar with NPH and recognized her symptoms. The hospital referred her to neurosurgeon Santiago Figuereo, M.D. of Miami Neurological Institute (www.miamini.com), a private practice specializing in minimally invasive surgeries for spine and brain disorders.

"The results from Mrs. Perez's CT scan along with her symptoms of memory loss, incontinence and unbalanced walking confirmed her diagnosis for NPH," said Dr. Figuereo. "Although this type of neurological condition is quite common in older people, it is often misdiagnosed. As in Mrs. Perez's case, it is often downplayed by the patient and the family as a byproduct of getting old."

Dr. Figuereo recommended that Perez undergo a procedure to implant a valve-regulating shunting system device called a programmable ventriculoperitoneal shunt that diverts the excess fluid from the brain into where it is absorbed through her circulatory system. She agreed to it with the hopes of once again having a normal life.

"I felt I was in good hands with Dr. Figuereo, and he explained the entire process step-by-step. He patiently answered all my questions and concerns," said Perez.

While Perez was under a general anesthetic, Dr. Figuereo made a curved incision in her scalp, and the shunt was inserted through the ventricles in her brain into the abdomen where the fluid is now absorbed. The system is completely contained inside her body and cannot be felt. Once in place, Dr. Figuereo programs the shunt via remote control to regulate the flow instead of taking the patient back into surgery.

The surgery was successful, Carmen Perez's cerebrospinal fluid became regulated and so did her life flow. Her vision improved dramatically, and her attitude was much more positive than before.

"Dr. Figuereo gave me a second chance to do the things I love, like traveling and spending time with my children," said Perez. "I feel that I need to use this opportunity to share my story and shed light on NPH. If I can reach at least one person that is needlessly living with the symptoms, then I feel as if I have used my opportunity well."

MEDIA CONTACTS:
DARDET PUBLIC RELATIONS
Christine Dardet, APR
954-753-5038 office
561-866-7922 mobile
chris@dardetpr.com

Debbie Liebross
954-436-3644 office
954-224-5674 mobile
dliebross@bellsouth.net