Neuroendoscopic third ventriculostomy in patients less than 1 year old

• Published in: Pediatric neurosurgery Vol. 29; no. 2; p. 73
• Main Authors: Buxton, N, Macarthur, D, Mallucci, C, Punt, J, Vloeberghs, M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 01-08-1998
• Subjects: Age Factors; Cerebral Ventricles - surgery; Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts - adverse effects; Endoscopy - adverse effects; Equipment Failure; Humans; Hydrocephalus - surgery; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Prospective Studies; Treatment Failure
• ISSN: 1016-2291
• DOI: 10.1159/000028693

A series of neuroendoscopic third ventriculostomies in children less than 1 year old is reported. Twenty-seven patients underwent the procedure with 21 (77%) failing within a mean of 1.36 months of the procedure. Nineteen were subsequently shunted. The presence or absence of flow through the ventriculostomy and the size of the lateral ventricles on post-operative imaging were not an indicator of success or failure. Only 4 (15%) had a complication of the procedure. Although the majority fail, approximately 1/3 are spared the added morbidity and mortality of having a shunt. With such a low morbidity and zero mortality the procedure has many benefits over shunting. Consequently, neuroendoscopic third ventriculostomy is used in this institution, where possible, rather than a shunt.