Uppsala University Hospital orders CELDA from Likvor for diagnosing NPH

Dec 11 2009

LinkMed’s (STO:LMED) portfolio company Likvor has received an order for Likvor CELDA™ from Uppsala University Hospital (Akademiska Universitetssjukhuset). With Likvor CELDA™ the clinical will be able to dynamic measure the most important parameters concerning the patients’ cerebrospinal fluid including pressure and flow. Likvor CELDA™ was developed to facility greater understanding and enhancing diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), a condition that is often mistaken for dementia. This is the second order for the instrument; the fist came from Norrlands Universitetssjukhus, Umeå.

Likvor CELDA™ is the first commercially approved instrument for assessing the flow of CSF fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord. It increases the possibility for patients who suffer from NPH to receive a correct diagnosis and therefore the appropriate treatment in the form of a shunt implant that diverts and regulates CSF pressure and flow. An accurate diagnosis means large gains for the patient and family, but also for society as a whole.

Likvor CELDA™ is used with a special developed catheter, CELDA Tools™ that is a disposable for one time use only.

Hidden disease of old age Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus (NPH) is a relatively unknown disease that is often mistakenly diagnosed as dementia, Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s. The is because the symptoms, including disturbances in gait, confusion and urinary incontinence, are similar to those of dementia, plus that NPH is a condition that mainly occurs in people over the age of 55. Studies have shown that up to 10 percent of dementia patients may actually be suffering from NPH. In Sweden it is estimated that over 7,000 Swedes suffer from the disease – most of them unnecessarily. In the U.S., the corresponding figure is well over 375,000. NPH is a condition that is relatively easily treated by the insertion of a shunt, which helps the patient to regulate CSF flow and pressure.