Insights into the epidemiology of infant hydrocephalus.

When one takes a global perspective, complexities related to the underlying epidemiology of infant hydrocephalus become abundantly clear. The causes of infant hydrocephalus vary from one world region to another, largely related to the underlying income characteristics of the population. Likewise, increased birth rates in low-income areas of the world are likely to result in an increased incidence and prevalence of infant hydrocephalus in those regions, whereas sophisticated and resource-intensive advancements in perinatal care available in other regions may result in decreased epidemiological estimates of disease burden in others. Further analysis of high-quality registry-based data may help clarify these issues.