Encefalocele, presentación de casos y revisión de la literatura

Abstract

Encephalocele is a type of dysraphism characterized by a protrusion of the intracranial contents (meninges, brain and/or ventricles) due to a defect of the skull and dura mater. Its etiology is multifactorial. The diagnosis is made in the prenatal stage in almost all cases through an ultrasound. The treatment is surgical and the timing depends on the patient’s own conditions. A compilation and synthesis of the literature on the subject was carried out and a series of 6 cases undergoing surgery at the Regional Hospital of Talca (Chile) was retrospectively reviewed. Several of these patients had another associated malformation coinciding with what was described in the literature. The objective of the surgery was to achieve a hermetic closure of both the dura mater and the skin that covered the defect, resecting the non-functional neurological tissue and the rest of the redundant tissue. Among the complications observed we can mention wound dehiscence and infection, hydrocephalus and structural epilepsy. The most indicated treatment for hydrocephalus is the installation of a shunt valve.