Hydrocephalus: Slit ventricles, shunt obstructions, and third ventricle shunts: A clinical study

Abstract

In a retrospective 5 year study of patients with ventricle shunts for hydrocephalus (N = 88), studies were developed on slit ventricles in teenagers and in young adults. These studies presented here are (1) time to slit ventricles from first shunt and average upright ICP associated (N = 24); (2) upright ICP in asymptomatic long-term ventricle shunt patients without slit ventricles (N = 21), (3) clinical course of patients with uncorrected slit ventricles and lateral ventricles or third ventricle shunts (N = 31), (4) resolution of slit ventricles by Zero ICP Shunt with normal upright ICP (N = 28), (5) no resolution of slit or large ventricles in shunted patients with normal upright ICP (N = 23), and (6) unreliability of CT ventricle size (slit or enlarged) after normal upright ICP achieved (N = 28; 23). Surprisingly, slit ventricle patients with the ventricular catheter in collapsed lateral ventricles develop shunt obstruction within 20 months ( 21 31; 71%; 10/31 (29%) patients with ventricle catheters incidentally in the third ventricle did not obstruct during the 4 1 2 year follow-up. © 1993.