Rwanda Neurosurgical Centre has said it will carry out research on hydrocephalus and spinal bifida to assess the extent of the disease in the country. Dr Emmanuel Nkusi, the head of the centre, said there are many parents who have children with the disease but are stigmatised. "We don’t have specific figure on the number of children with hydrocephalus or spinal bifida,so we want to create awareness as we do research,” he addedHydrocephalus is caused by abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain. It leads to abnormal size and shape of the head, usually ‘huge’.The excess fluid can push fragile brain tissues against the skull, causing brain damage. Once known as ‘water on the brain’, hydrocephalus is present at birth, although it may develop later.Dr Nkusi said hydrocephalus treatment is surgical, normally creating various types of cerebral shunts.

It involves the placement of a ventricular catheter into the cerebral ventricles to bypass the flow obstruction and drain the excess fluid into other body cavities. Dr Stephenson Musiime, a pediatrician at King Faisal Hospital, said meningitis, brain tumour, head trauma or intracranial hemorrhage. In infants, CSF builds up in the central nervous system, causing the soft spot to bulge and the head to be larger than normal.