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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian Journal of Neurosurgery 2021; 10(02): 152-154
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1730131
Short Communication

Simple Removal of Ventriculoatrial Shunt and Simultaneous Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Revision: Short Communication

Ryo Oike 
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Nadogaya Hospital, Chiba, Japan
,
Yasuaki Inoue
2   Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
,
Kazuhito Matsuzawa
1   Department of Neurosurgery, Nadogaya Hospital, Chiba, Japan
› Author Affiliations Funding None.
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Abstract

Background  Ventriculoatrial shunt (VAS) is a common alternative treatment option for hydrocephalus in patients with ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) failure. Most previous reports on VAS discuss the atrial-related complications and none focus on simple removal (i.e., without specialized equipment). We report a case of simple VAS removal and simultaneous VPS revision, with no obvious shunt-related cardiac complications.

Case presentation  The patient was an 87-year-old female who had received a VAS for idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus 6 years prior. She developed a right thalamic hemorrhage with intraventricular hemorrhage and was admitted to our hospital. She had a recurrence of the hydrocephalus and was diagnosed with shunt malfunction, due to simple obstruction without obvious shunt-related cardiac complications. The VAS was simply and safely removed, and a VPS was simultaneously placed, as per the usual procedure in our institution. She remains well with no evidence of complications on postoperative day 10.

Discussion  Since VAS is mostly used in pediatric cases that are difficult to treat with VPS, the duration of time elapsed allows VAS catheters to form strong adhesions with the surrounding cardiac tissue. Therefore, the simple removal of VAS is usually not straightforward.

Conclusion  If the follow-up period is short and there are no specific cardiac complications at the time of replacement, VAS can be safely removed and VPS can be spontaneously placed, without any specialized surgical techniques or equipment.

Keywords

Ventriculoatrial shunt - ventriculoperitoneal shunt - hydrocephalus


Publication History

Article published online:
15 July 2021

© 2021. Neurological Surgeons’ Society of India. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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