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A cerebral shunt is a device permanently implanted inside the head and body to drain excess fluid away from the brain. They are commonly used to treat hydrocephalus, the swelling of the brain due to excess buildup of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
The treatment of choice in NPH is ventriculoperitoneal shunt surgery (VPS). This treatment needs a VP shunt, which is a catheter with a valve aiming at implementing a one-way outflow of the excessive amount of CSF from the ventricles. It is obligatory to have patency control because of some possible complications such as infections and obstruction.
Resistance to traditional analgesic pharmacological therapy may also be a sign of shunt overdrainage or failure. [49] Following placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt there have been cases of a decrease in post-surgery hearing. It is presumed that the cochlea aqueduct is responsible for the decrease in hearing thresholds.
All patients are reviewed for contraindications prior to MRI scanning. Medical devices and implants are categorized as MR Safe, MR Conditional or MR Unsafe: [6] MR-Safe – The device or implant is completely non-magnetic, non-electrically conductive, and non-RF reactive, eliminating all of the primary potential threats during an MRI procedure.
The pressure in the brain does not get high enough to allow the cerebrospinal fluid to drain in a shunt system, therefore the shunt is open, but malfunctioning in LPH. In cases of LPH, chronic infarcts can also develop along the corona radiata in response to the tension in the brain as the ventricles increase in size.
The shunt also has a valve which serves to maintain one-way flow of the CSF and regulates the flow rate. The end with the catheter is placed in the third ventricle to drain the excess CSF and the other end is placed in the peritoneal cavity or atrium of the heart (making it a ventriculoperitoneal or ventriculoatrial shunt, respectively). The ...
Diagram demonstrating surgical placement of a VP shunt used to manage NPH. For suspected cases of NPH, CSF shunting is the first-line treatment. The most common type used to treat NPH is ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunts, which drain CSF fluid to the peritoneal cavity. Adjustable valves allow fine-tuning of CSF drainage.
The symptoms of shunt failure are non-specific – headache, nausea, lethargy – so diagnostic tests must be conducted to rule in or rule out surgery. Current methods of diagnosing shunt malfunction, including CT Scan, MRI, radionuclide studies and shunt tap, have limitations and risks.