OBJECT The objective of this systematic review was to answer the following question: What is the optimal treatment strategy for CSF shunt infection in pediatric patients with hydrocephalus? METHODS The US National Library of Medicine and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were queried using MeSH headings and key words relevant to the objective of this systematic review. Abstracts wer...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this retrospective study was to clarify the relationship of shunt infection to childhood hydrocephalus etiology. METHODS We analyzed 1021 patients with childhood hydrocephalus who underwent V-P shunting over a period of approximately 15 years. The etiology of 1021 patients include myelomeningocele (794 patient), congenital (165 patient) and intraventricular haemorrhag...

OBJECT In evaluating pediatric patients for shunt malfunction, predictive values for symptoms and signs are important in deciding which patients should undergo an imaging study, whereas determining clinical findings that correlate with a low probability of shunt failure could simplify management. METHODS Data obtained during the recently completed Pediatric Shunt Design Trial (PSDT) were anal...

BACKGROUND Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt placement is one of the most commonly performed procedures in neurosurgery. One rare complication is the formation of an abdominal pseudocyst, which can cause shunt malfunction. CASE DESCRIPTIONS We present four unique cases of abdominal pseudocyst formation. Our first patient initially presented with a right upper quadrant pseudocyst. Shunt was exte...

BACKGROUND The transpulmonary thermodilution (TPTD) technique for measuring cardiac output (CO) has never been validated in the presence of a left-to-right shunt. METHODS In this experimental, paediatric animal model, nine lambs with a surgically constructed aorta-pulmonary left-to-right shunt were studied under various haemodynamic conditions. CO was measured with closed and open shunt using...

OBJECTIVES To determine the frequency of primary ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection among patients treated at neurosurgical centres of the Hospital Authority and to identify underlying risk factors. METHODS This multicentre historical cohort study included consecutive patients who underwent primary ventriculoperitoneal shunting at a Hospital Authority neurosurgery centre from 1 January 2009...

Ventriculoperitoneal shunts (VPSs) are used for the treatment of hydrocephalus. Here we analyzed the outcomes of VPS placements in 24 infants to determine the risk factors for shunt failure. The infants had undergone the initial VPS operation in our hospital between March 2005 and December 2013. They were observed until the end of January 2014. We obtained Kaplan-Meier curves and performed a mu...

OBJECT The author investigated the 1-year outcomes for shunt treatment of hydrocephalic children in Uganda, comparing the results using the inexpensive Chhabra shunt ($35 US dollars), widely used in East Africa, with those using the Codman-Hakim Micro Precision Valve shunt ($650). METHODS The results in 195 consecutive children (mostly infants) in whom shunts were placed were studied prospect...

This report describes a new test of patency of the ventricular component of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt that precludes injection into the shunt reservoir. Preliminary clinical experience confirms that digital compression of the ventricular shunt reservoir (Cordis standard and pediatric reservoir), while occluding the shunt distal to the reservoir, generates microbubbles that increase the echog...