CT Profile of Hydrocephalus in Children at the Charles de Gaulle Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Ouagadougou

Aim of the Study: The aim is to analyse the epidemiological, clinical and CT aspects of hydrocephalus in children. Method: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study with retrospective collection from 1 June 2021 to 31 December 2022 within the radiology department of Charles De Gaulle Pediatric Teaching Hospital in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The study included the records of patients with hydrocephalus who underwent cerebral computed tomography within this radiology department. Results: Hydrocephalus is due to a disorder of the hydrodynamics of the cerebrospinal fluid causing an increase in the volume allocated to this fluid in the brain and being accompanied by an increase in the pressure of this fluid. Its diagnosis is established by Doppler ultrasound or MRI prenatally, transfontanellar ultrasound in newborns and young children whose fontanel is permeable and by CT or MRI in older children, who can also determine the etiology. MRI remains an imaging technique that is less available and less accessible than CT in developing countries like ours. In Burkina Faso, MRI is only available in two private health facilities. The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological, clinical and computed tomography aspects of hydrocephalus in children at the Charles de Gaulle pediatric teaching hospital in order to contribute to the diagnostic assessment and better management of this pathology. Over 19 months, 105 cases of hydrocephalus were recorded out of a total population of 115 children, or an average of 6 cases per month. The mean age was 17.52 months, with extremes of 03 days and 13 years, and the sex ratio was 1.38. Macrocrania, convulsions and psychomotor retardation were the main clinical signs, with rates of 49%, 34% and 30% respectively. On cerebral CT scan, hydrocephalus was triventricular (41.90%), tetraventricular (40%), and predominantly non-communicating (60%), with a mean Evans score of 0.53. The aetiologies were malformations in 34.28% of cases, tumours in 10.47% and infections in 5.71%. Among the malformations, Arnold Chiari II syndrome associated with spina bifida and Dandy Walker syndrome were the most common, accounting for 25% each. Tumour causes were dominated by craniopharyngioma and astrocytoma, each accounting for 27.30% of cases. Conclusion: The incidence of hydrocephalus was high in our study. In the absence of MRI (due to its unavailability and inaccessibility), CT revealed hydrocephalus that was predominantly tri- and tetraventricular, and predominantly