Charlson comorbidity index applied to shunted idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus

A series of epidemiological studies have shown the limited life expectancy of patients suffering from idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH). In most cases, comorbid medical conditions are the cause of death, rather than iNPH. Though it has also been shown that shunting improves both life quality and lifetime. We sought to investigate the utility of the Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) for improved preoperative risk–benefit assessment of shunt surgery in individual iNPH cases. 208 shunted iNPH cases were prospectively investigated. Two in-person follow up visits at 3 and 12 months assessed postoperative clinical status. The correlation of the age adjusted CCI with survival was investigated over the median observation time of 2.37 years (IQR 1.16–4.15). Kaplan Meier statistics revealed that patients with a CCI score of 0–5 have a 5-year survival rate of 87%, compared to only 55% in patients with CCI > 5. Cox multivariate statistics revealed that the CCI was an independent predictor of survival, while common preoperative iNPH scores (modified Rankin Scale (mRS), gait score, and continence score) are not. As expected, mRS, gait, and continence scores improved during the postoperative follow up period, though relative improvement on any of these was not predicted by baseline CCI. The CCI is an easily applicable preoperative predictor of survival time in shunted iNPH patients. The lack of a correlation between the CCI and functional outcome means that even patients with multiple comorbidities and limited remaining lifetime may appreciate benefit from shunt surgery.