Remission from polymyositis after total body irradiation.

first was a staphylococcus albus infection which arose in a primary ventriculoatrial shunt inserted in a 60-year-old patient who had developed hydrocephalus in association with a cystic tumour of the posterior fossa. The second was an Escherichia coli infection which occurred after a revision of the upper end of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt in a 2-year-old child who had hydrocephalus caused by a Dandy-Walker cyst. The third was a Staph albus infection which occurred after revision of the lower end of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt in a 1-year-old child who had presented with non-communicating hydrocephalus at the age of 3 months. The age range of the patients and the number of shunts carried out were as follows: under 1 year, 34; 1 to 10 years, 64; 10 to 20 years, 43; and over 20 years, 59.