The symptoms of hydrocephalus vary with age, disease progression, and individual differences in tolerance to CSF. An infant's ability to tolerate the pressure of CSF fluid is different to that of an adult. An infant's skull can easily expand to accommodate the dramatic buildup of CSF fluid. In an infant, the most obvious indication of hydrocephalus is in most cases a rapid increase in the circumference of the head or an unusually large head size. Other symptoms of hydrocephalus may include vomiting, sleepiness, irritability, downward deviation of the eyes, and seizures. Older children and adults may experience different symptoms of being hydrocephalus such as headache followed by vomiting, nausea, papilledema (swelling of the optic disk which is part of the optic nerve), blurred vision, diplopia (double vision), sunsetting of the eyes, problems with balance, poor coordination, gait disturbance, urinary incontinence, slowing or loss of development, lethargy, drowsiness, irritability, or other changes in personality or cognition including memory loss.

The symptoms that have been included on this page may vary in each individual who you may suspect to have hydrocephalus.