Beating Her Headaches

Brain surgery brings relief for ‘A’ student

Alyssa DeGrace’s excruciating headaches began when she was in high school. She saw a neurologist, who ordered an MRI, and DeGrace learned she had congenital hydrocephalus, an excessive accumulation of fluid on her brain. “I was born with it, but I’d never had any symptoms until then,” says DeGrace, now 20 and a psychology major at West Chester University.

One in 500 people is born with the condition. Unlike DeGrace, most of them become aware of it in early childhood. Symptoms can include headache, blurred or double vision, balance problems, poor coordination, slowed developmental progress and various cognitive changes including memory loss.

“I’m so glad it didn’t get to that point for me,” DeGrace says. “Succeeding in school is very important to me, so I need to comprehend and remember everything I learn.”

Her condition was monitored until the fluid increased to potentially serious levels. (Progressive hydrocephalus can damage the brain or even be fatal if it’s not surgically treated.) “When I learned I needed surgery I began to cry uncontrollably, DeGrace says. “My mom had surgery for a brain tumor not long ago, and it just hit very close to home.”

She sought a neurosurgeon who could perform the most advanced procedure for hydrocephalus, and found him in Mark Li, M.D., of Lehigh Valley Health Network. During winter break of her freshman year in college, DeGrace had an endoscopic third ventriculostomy. Li made a 1-inch incision behind her hairline and inserted tiny camera-guided instruments that he used to make an internal opening so the accumulated fluid could drain. The surgery took less than 45 minutes, and DeGrace was home the next day.

Traditionally, surgeons treat hydrocephalus by inserting a shunt system—which has inherent complication risks. Not all neurosurgeons can perform the newer “minimally invasive” procedures like DeGrace’s. “These neuroendoscopies have dramatically altered the management of several central nervous system diseases, including hydrocephalus, brain tumors and cysts, and conditions that cause neck and back pain,” Li says.

DeGrace will get an annual MRI for several years to make sure her hydrocephalus doesn’t return. Meanwhile, she plans to make the most of her winter break this year. “I’ll be able to relax a little more since I won’t be recovering from surgery,” she says.

Want to know more? For information on the advanced neuroendoscopic procedures performed at Lehigh Valley Health Network, call 610-402-CARE.

Published from Healthy You Magazine , January February 2009

This page last updated 10/27/09 03:55 PM