Congenital toxoplasmosis: a significant cause of congenital hydrocephalus in Egypt

ABSTRACT

This study was performed on 100 hydrocephalic children aging from one month to 8 years. The patients were examined physically and radiologically to exclude any hydrocephalic case associated with any other intracranial lesion. Serum and CSF samples were taken during ventriculoperitoneal shunt operation for all patients and serum samples from all mothers were collected and examined to detect anti- toxoplasma IgG using indirect ELISA. Serum samples of 40 normal children and their mothers sera were examined for IgG as controls. Positive anti-toxoplasma IgG was detected in 23% of the hydrocephalic children and their mothers denoting that their infection may be congenital from their mothers. The mean optical density [OD] of anti- toxoplasma IgG antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid of hydrocephalic cases was significantly higher than their level in the serum of the same patients