Ventriculoperitoneal shunt dysfunction in a patient presenting with neurogenic pulmonary edema

An unusual cause of ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection

Infection associated with ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt implantation can be a significant problem. VP shunt infection with Serratia marcescens, a gram-negative anaerobic rod, usually is related to underlying abdominal disease. This article describes treatment of two patients suffering from a VP shunt infection with S. marcescens without underlying abdominal disease.

Preoperative neurogenic pulmonary edema: A dilemma for decision making

Neurogenic pulmonary edema may be a less-recognized consequence of obstructive hydrocephalus. The authors report a patient with acute obstructive hydrocephalus due to cerebellar metastatic lesion, who presented with neurogenic pulmonary edema. The edema resolved on placement of the ventriculoperitonial shunt. This report addresses the importance of recognition of neurogenic pulmonary edema as a possible perioperative complication resulting from an increase in intracranial pressure and the issues involved with anesthetic management of co-existing neurogenic pulmonary edema and intracranial hypertension.

Histopathological features of the brain, liver, kidney and spleen following an innovative polytrauma model of the mouse

OBJECT

Among the various introduced experimental traumatic brain injury models, there is a clear paucity of proper experimental polytrauma models. To overcome this experimental gap we introduced such a polytrauma model in the mouse including traumatic brain injury. Here, we report on the histopathological features of the brain, lung, kidney, spleen and liver.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

20 male C57BL mice with a mean weight of 23 g were anesthetized with ketamine and xylazine. The anaesthetized animals were subjected to a controlled cortical impact (CCI) over the left parieto-temporal cortex using rounded-tip impounder for application of a standardized brain injury. Following fracture of the right femur using a guillotine, a volume-controlled hemorrhagic shock was induced. The control groups included animals with CCI only (n=20) and animals with femur fracture plus hemorrhagic shock without CCI (n=20). Subjects were sacrified at 96 h following trauma. Brain, lung, kidney, spleen and liver of the animals underwent histopathological examinations.

RESULTS

The mortality rate at 96 h was 25% in the polytrauma group versus 10% in the control groups. Within the histopathological investigations, polytraumatized animals differ from those with a single trauma (traumatic brain injury or femur fracture with hemorrhagic shock) with various severity.

CONCLUSION

The findings of this study show that such a polytrauma model can be standardized resulting in a reproducible damage. This model fulfills the requirements of a standardized animal model. It allows adequate analogies and inferences to the clinical situation of a polytrauma in humans.