CSF Shunt Complications

posted in Neurosurgery on by

Brief HPI:

A 33 year-old female with a history of idiopathic intracranial hypertension and ventriculoperitoneal shunt placement presents with headache and confusion. She denies fever, trauma, neck pain or stiffness. She has not had symptoms like this since her shunt was placed 2 years ago. Imaging was obtained which showed ventriculomegaly and a fracture of the shunt at the level of the cervical spine. Neurosurgery was consulted and the patient was admitted for shunt repair.

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CT Head

Ventriculomegaly with dilatation of the temporal horns in particular. Right parietal approach ventricular drain. Case courtesy of Dr. Henry Knipe, Radiopaedia.org, rID: 39615

XR Shunt Series

XR Shunt Series

Shunt tubing fractured at the level of the upper cervical spine

An Algorithm for CSF Shunt Complications

An Algorithm for CSF Shunt Complications

References:

  1. Madsen MA. Emergency department management of ventriculoperitoneal cerebrospinal fluid shunts. Ann Emerg Med. 1986;15(11):1330-1343.
  2. Ferras M, McCauley N, Stead T, Ganti L, Desai B. Ventriculoperitoneal shunts in the emergency department: a review. Cureus. 2020;12(2):e6857.
  3. Paff M, Alexandru-Abrams D, Muhonen M, Loudon W. Ventriculoperitoneal shunt complications: A review. Interdisciplinary Neurosurgery. 2018;13:66-70.
  4. Pitetti R. Emergency department evaluation of ventricular shunt malfunction: is the shunt series really necessary? Pediatr Emerg Care. 2007;23(3):137-141.
  5. Fowler JB, De Jesus O, Mesfin FB. Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt. [Updated 2021 Feb 7]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2021 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459351/
  6. Broggi M, Zattra CM, Schiariti M, et al. Diagnosis of ventriculoperitoneal shunt malfunction: a practical algorithm. World Neurosurg. 2020;137:e479-e486.