Addenbrooke’s has launched a ground-breaking, multidisciplinary clinic to help identify and treat people with a frequently misunderstood condition called normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH).
NPH is caused by an abnormal build-up of fluid in the brain, and leads to memory loss, poor balance, and bladder problems. It typically affects people over 65 and is frequently mistaken for untreatable forms of dementia like Alzheimer’s disease, when in fact it is potentially reversible with shunt surgery.
The new clinic is part of the Reversible Dementia (REVERT) project, a cross-border collaboration between the UK and France that is led by the University of Cambridge and aims to share best practice internationally.
The team, headed by consultant neurosurgeon, REVERT Clinical Lead and Deputy Director of the NIHR Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative, Mr Alexis Joannides, consists of a clinical neuropsychologist, a specialist physiotherapist, an advanced nurse specialist, and a service co-ordinator.
Because of the wide range of experienced clinicians involved, patients attending the one-stop clinic quickly and easily get an initial assessment that includes a medical consultation, cognitive evaluation (memory test), and gait assessment (walking test).
Our multidisciplinary clinic will improve patient experience: the one-stop approach will save time and money and reduce the number of hospital visits for patients. It will also provide more in-depth assessment to help us offer tailored care and support to patients with NPH alongside their clinical treatment.
Alexis Joannides, CUH consultant neurosurgeon, REVERT Clinical Lead and Deputy Director of the NIHR Brain Injury MedTech Co-operative
The REVERT project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) via the Interreg France (Channel) England Programme. To learn more, visit revertproject.org
For more information, you can read the full press release on the Cambridge University Hospitals website.
Source: Press release from Cambridge University Hospitals, by David Cook, ‘Pioneering clinic to treat reversible form of dementia’, accessed 15 June 2022, https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/news/pioneering-clinic-launched-to-treat-reversible-form-of-dementia/
Left to right are: Indu Lawes (Lead CSF nurse specialist), Toby Meek (specialist physiotherapist), Alexis Joannides (consultant neurosurgeon) and Lisa Healy (clinical neuropsychologist)