The UKSR is a national database that was established in 1994 by the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Cambridge. It is a secure database where healthcare professionals can enter information regarding all procedures undertaken to correct the production, circulation and absorption of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and related disorders of the venous system of the brain. The registry’s aims are to:

• Help neurosurgeons to choose the best implants for patients
• Facilitate prompt linking of patient records across different hospitals in cases where a patient has undergone neurosurgical procedures in different hospitals
• Improve patient safety by showing how well implants (shunts and stents), neurosurgical teams and units perform and take action where it is needed
• Provide an accurate picture of the use of different types of shunts and up-to-date information on the reliability of devices
• Help identify substandard shunt systems in collaboration with the UK Shunt Evaluation Laboratory in order to inform best practice and help neurosurgeons quickly decide whether patients need to return to hospital if implant problems are found (this is very rare)
• Empower patients and enhance patient choice by helping them find out more about the implants available
• Help the medical team to monitor in real time the outcomes of different groups of patients with hydrocephalus
• Provide independent accurate information to implant manufacturers and suppliers in order to help them improve implant performance and patient care
• Give up-to-date information on mortality among patients with hydrocephalus
• Inform future research

The registry aims to improve the health of patients with hydrocephalus (build up of fluid in the brain) and related disorders of the brain’s venous system by recording accurate data and continuously monitoring the long-term outcomes of all the relevant procedures: shunts, endoscopic third ventriculostomy, choroid plexectomy and venous stents.