Isosorbide in the medical treatment of infantile hydrocephalus.

✓ The author reports the methods, results and complications of isosorbide therapy in 60 patients with various types of infantile hydrocephalus. Treatment was monitored by serial measurements of head circumference, assessment of fontanel tension, air ventriculography, and echoencephalography. Frequent estimation of plasma electrolytes, urea, and Astrup figures were found essential to guard against serious hypernatremia and acidosis, especially if higher doses were used. Infants with moderate hydrocephalus and those whose shunt was removed temporarily because of infection did particularly well under isosorbide. Cases of severe hydrocephalus rarely responded to therapy and in these, at best, only a delay before surgical therapy was achieved.