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Ventriculopleural shunting used as a temporary diversion

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Summary

Due to the limited absorptive capacity of the pleural cavity, infants and young children are not generally ideal candidates for ventriculopleural shunts. We report using chest cavities as alternate for temporary diversion of CSF in a young child. Venous access to the cervical region could not be utilized because of scarring from previous procedures, while peritoneal access was contraindicated due to repeated pseudocyst formation. Pleural effusions were removed by thoracentesis when necessary, and the shunt catheter was changed to the opposite side of the chest when the effusions reaccumulated within one week. Utilizing the ventriculopleural shunts allowed us to temporize her non-communicating hydrocephalus for a period of one year, until a definitve CSF procedure by direct intracardiac placement of the distal catheter could be performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, West Virginia University Hospital, USA

    C. D. Willison

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, USA

    T. A. Kopitnik

  3. Department of Neurosurgery, West Virginia University, USA

    H. H. Kaufman

  4. Department of Surgery, Division of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery, West Virginia University Hospital, USA

    R. Gustafson

Authors
  1. C. D. Willison
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  2. T. A. Kopitnik
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  3. R. Gustafson
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  4. H. H. Kaufman
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Willison, C.D., Kopitnik, T.A., Gustafson, R. et al. Ventriculopleural shunting used as a temporary diversion. Acta neurochir 115, 67–68 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01400595

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