The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) awarded a $1.8 million contract to Dr. William Whitehead, a pediatric neurosurgeon at Texas Children’s Hospital, to study ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement in pediatric patients with hydrocephalus, a medical condition in which there is an abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the ventricles, or cavities, of the brain.
Whitehead and his research team will work with the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network and the Hydrocephalus Association to conduct the study. The four-year randomized controlled trial will determine which shunt entry site results in the lowest rate of shunt failure.
The study is one of 46 proposals PCORI approved for funding to advance the field of comparative clinical effectiveness research providing patients, healthcare providers and other clinical decision-makers with information that will help them make better-informed choices.
“We believe that our study proposal will answer an important question and has the potential to significantly improve the care of pediatric patients with shunted hydrocephalus,” Whitehead said.
Whitehead’s study and other projects approved for funding by PCORI were selected from 490 applications through a highly competitive review process.