[The influence of shunt surgery on the improvement of cognitive disorders in hydrocephalic patients].

We present 43 cases with cognitive disorders due to communicating hydrocephalus assessed by means of neuropshychological tests before and 4-8 months after shunt treatment. The patients were the part of the 95 hydrocephalic cases (45.3%) operated on in the period of 1993-98 at the Department of Neurosurgery in Kraków. Cognitive functions improvement was detected in 81.4% cases, no changes in 7%, and deterioration in 11.6%. Most often the improvement of lingual function, short memory and attention was noted. The worst prognosis for the prediction of improvement of the cognitive functions had the patients with significant cerebral atrophy, and those with symptoms lasting over 1 years.