An External Ventricular Drainage (EVD) is the temporary drainage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) from the fluid filled cavities of the brain (lateral ventricles) to a closed collection system outside the body.
The cause of this condition is irritation of the fifth cranial nerve (the Trigeminal nerve) which is responsible for providing facial sensation. This irritation is occasionally due to benign tumours or multiple sclerosis, either of which can usually be detected by a high quality MRI of the brain.
In the majority of cases, however, imaging of the brain does not reveal a cause of the nerve irritation. In such cases a small vessel (usually an artery but occasionally a vein) is often found at operation to be compressing the root entry zone of the Trigeminal nerve at the brainstem.
Subcribe to our mailing list to get the updates to your email inbox...