Epidemiology of Aqueductal Stenosis in Children

Incidence and Prevalence

• 30-40%  of cases of hydrocephalus: Aqueductal stenosis accounts for 15–60% of cases of hydrocephalus in children and 10–40% of cases in adults (45, 51, 87,107).

Age Distribution

• Bimodal distribution: There are two peaks of distribution for age: one in the first year of life and the other in adolescence (45).

Sex Predilection

• Male: There is a slight male prevalence (45)

Geographic Distribution

• None: There is no geographic predilection

Risk Factors

• Genetic
• Infection or inflammation
• Hemorrhage
• Toxicities and deficiencies
• CNS malformations
• Functional stenosis
• Venous hypertension
• Tumoral aqueductal stenosis

Relationships to Other Disease States and Syndromes

• Neurofibromatosis: Non-tumoral aqueductal stenosis may be associated with certain inherited syndromes, such as neurofibromatosis (100). In their series, Pascual-Castroviejo et al (81) reported aqueductal stenosis in about 5% of children with NF1.