Aside from shunt malfunctions, contacts, hypodermic needles and chest catheters are among a list of medical devices reported to contribute to over 70,000 emergency room visits in the United States.

“According to a study conducted by the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, 70,000 kids visit the emergency room each year due to injuries from medical devices,” writes Rachel Stockton for the health and safety portion of Foodconsumer.org. “Some of the more serious problems occur with shunts in the brain used to treat hydrocephalus…”

According to the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus, over half of patients who have a shunt will need at least one revision within 10 years, with potential for malfunction at 20 to 30 percent in the first year of use. Shunt devices contributing to emergency room visits, then, is not unheard of.

Yet, the article does bring up the American Academy of Pediatrics’ concerns “about safety problems with medical devices used on children for the last several years.”

“In 2005, the Institute of Medicine recommended expanding regulation of medical devices for children by the FDA, citing significant flaws in safety monitoring,” Stockton writes. “Because diseases in children are rarer than they are in adults, the medical device market has little incentive to focus on that particular market.

“As a result, doctors must ‘adjust’ by using medical supplies designed for adults.”

While neurologists and surgeons have been treating child hydrocephalus for decades, online searches did not reveal reports of pediatric patients receiving shunts intended for adults. Have you heard differently? Do you know of a patient or friend who fell into the cracks of little government oversight?

If so, share your story in a comment below, or create a forum post here.

In the meantime, Gabriel’s Life will wait for the upcoming publication of medical devices and ER trips in the next publication of the journal Pediatrics.

With 90 brain surgeries under her belt, 22-year-old Jennifer Bechard speaks volumes when she makes statements like that.

Recently profiled by Hometownlife.com, Bechard demonstrated a firm commitment to an altruistic mission she shares with Gabriel’s Life.

“I’m dedicating my time and efforts toward supporting others, raising awareness and funding for research,” she told reporter Mary Rodrique.

The article focused on an upcoming Detroit Hydrocephalus Association Walk and its inception by Bechard–who was selected as the association’s volunteer of the year at it’s recent conference in Cleveland. Bechard and her mother began the walk three years ago, with participant increases from 100 supporters to 343.

According to the story, the mother-daughter team hopes to raise $35,000 this year, with 100 percent of the profits going to research.

“Unable to work due to her chronic health issues, Bechard volunteers for the Hydrocephalus Association, running 30 websites nationally,” Rodrique reports. “It’s something she can do from home or her hospital bed with a lap top computer.”

As of today, the event’s main page has total donations over $17,000.

Read the full story here, or check out the Facebook page for the walk here.

Over a year ago, state social workers tore the Gould family apart when it removed three-month-old Cavern from his mothers’ arms on claims that the women were abusing him.

Parents Cassie Gould and Wayne Halligan had taken young Cavern to the hospital after noticing slight bruises and purple spots around his ears, signs the state point to in claiming the child abuse.

“I didn’t know what had caused his illness but next thing I know child protection and social services were called,” Gould told the Sunday Mercury.“I was cautioned and questioned and told I may face criminal proceedings.”

Out of his parents’ care, Cavern received full medical examinations, and doctors soon diagnosed the baby with hydrocephalus. Months still remained before a court ordered the child back to his distraught, loving mothers.

“I never thought we would get to do this,” Gould said. “It felt great.

“Getting Cavern back was the best feeling in the world, but I will never get over what happened,” she added.

Social services would not comment on the case.

The story of the Goulds represents the chaos, fear and heartbreak caused when a condition like hydrocephalus is left in a nebulous world of unawareness. Even though–according to 2003 statistics from the University of Ulster–6.46 babies out 10,000 in Britain are born with hydrocephalus, a child like Cavern can remain in the cracks.

Education is the first weapon in making sure an incident like this does not occur again. Share this post, comment below with your own struggle against lack of information or start a forum post here.

One exciting presentation–featured recently on the association’s website–highlighted the peculiar difficulties adolescent patients face as they make the already-awkward transition from childhood to adulthood. Given from a medical expert’s perspective, the presentation focuses on the large amount of awareness and maturity a hydrocephalitic teen must foster in order to make it through the difficult changes ahead.

“Young adults with hydrocephalus often have great opportunities to lead happy, fulfilling and mostly healthy lives,” writes the assocation’s Michelle Emick Ronholm. “But with independence comes responsibility to do everything you can with your health care team to ensure effective hydrocephalus treatment.”

The presentation (found here) offers invaluable insight into the switch a child patient makes as his or her support system switches from parents, extended relatives, school teachers and administrators, and a wide array of medical providers to possibly just him or herself and the surgeon. The presenter–Doctor Hal Rekate, pediatric neurosurgery chief at the Barrow Neurological Institute–calls on teenage patients to learn as much as they can about the particulars of their condition, shunt, and treatment in order to better articulate their situation to their trusted doctor.

Dr. Rekate doesn’t mince words and goes into the “cruel realities” of hydrocephalus, which might have been glossed over or delicately described when the patient was a small child. He states shunt infection, shunt failure, comas, and even small chances of fatality are all actual possibilities for this maturing individual.

In the end, not only is the presentation a great primer for any growing person (”Do your homework, it is a vital process in becoming an adult,” writes the doctor), the slides offer truth and advice for teenagers who already have much of the confusing world thrown at them.

If you have a adolescent relative with hydrocephalus, or are one yourself, take the time to read and forward along the presentation. In addition, other slideshows are available on the Hydrocephalus Association’s website, and Gabriel’s Life will continue profiling the wonderful information shared by that group from its most recent conference.

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Not even a year after its disastrous earthquake, a team of compassionate doctors, nurses and photographers have devoted their time to helping crop relief efforts, treating rampant illnesses and also providing irreplaceable surgeries for hydrocephalus patients.

As featured at the website for the non-profit group Project Medishare, formal neurosurgery education remains nonexistent in the recovery Haiti. The team of Miami-based doctors work each day to share their valuable knowledge with the country’s surgeons.

“This would include taking the surgeons and in a span of three years teach them how to perform neurosurgeries for adults and children and support them with equipment, training and supplies so they could become the foundation of a neurosurgical training program in the future.”

A video (found on YouTube.com here) features a touching multimedia slideshow of the lives the team has touched and changed. Partnered with the Canadian faith-based charity Mission of Tears, among many others, the hopes to rebuild the communities, hospitals, families, homes and lives of everyone in Haiti stays alive and well. Visit each groups website, or view a blog of the efforts here, to stay updated with the recovery.

Following 16-, 26- and 33-year-old hydrocephalitic patients, associate professor Jenni Ogden an article in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology detailed the effects a shunt surgery had on the subjects’ relative memory function. Each had demonstrated lower performance for memory, but none had issues with incontinence, dementia or lack of muscle coordination, all symptoms commonly associated with hydrocephalus.

After the placement of ventricular shunts, one patient–the one who had suffered from hydro for the shortest amount of time (”acute onset”)–saw a rapid improvement in memory functionality. Unfortunately, the other two–with more chronic histories with hydro–did not see any marked improvement with their memory. One actually saw more severe impairments a year after the shunt placement.

While the research is, of course, open and non-conclusive, Dr. Ogden strongly urges longer periods of monitoring and observation for chronic hydro patients before rushing to a shunt treatment.

As always, Gabriel’s Life encourages full and honest discussions with trusted medical providers before coming to health-related assumptions from articles posted here. The entire article can be purchased here, and medical professionals with different associations might be able to view it free of charge.

After massive pressure built on the outside of the prime minister’s head, neurosurgeons in Nairobi drilled a hole in Odinga’s skull to release excess fluid in the skull, a symptom commonly associated with hydrocepahlus.

One report from the Press Association said the minister’s doctors did not release details on his exact condition. But, perhaps questioning the leader’s future capacity to negotiate a referendum on the constitution, the report states, “(i)f left untreated, symptoms of the (hydrocephalus) include cognitive problems and difficulty walking, according to the website of the Hydrocephalus Association.”

Do you think hydrocephalus negates a politician’s ability to lead a country?

Be reminded that CNN reporter/co-anchor Judy Woodruff, Native American poet Sherman Alexie, artist Freda Kahlo (supposed), and many other prominent figures have led successful and impactful lives under a public gaze.

How should hydrocephalus be treated in the public arena? What limitations, if any, impact a survivor’s ability to change society?