Endoscopic Third Ventriculostomy in Children with Failed Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt

Context

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) is an accepted procedure for the treatment of obstructive hydrocephalus. The role of endoscopic treatment in the management of shunt malfunction was not extensively evaluated. The aim of this study is to evaluate the success rate of ETV in pediatric patients formerly treated by ventriculoperitoneal (V-P) shunt implantation.

Materials and Methods

Thirty-three patients with their first shunt failure and obstructive hydrocephalus in brain imaging between 2008 and 2014 were enrolled in this study.

Results

The most common causes of hydrocephalus in these patients were aqueductal stenosis and myelomeningocele with or without associated shunt infection. Of these 33 cases, 20 ETV procedures were successful, and 13 cases needed shunt revision after ETV failure. There was no serious complication during ETV procedures. The follow-up period of patients with successful ETV was 6-50 months (mean 18 months). The time interval between ETV and new shunting subsequent to ETV failure was 24.4 days (10-95).

Conclusions

ETV can be considered as an alternative treatment paradigm in patients with previous shunt or new shunt failure with an acceptable success rate of 6o%, although long-term follow-up is needed for these patients.

Evaluation of Lower Extremities' Vascular Characteristics in Myelomeningocele Patients: A Case-Control Study

OBJECTIVE

Myelomeningocele (MMC) is the most common neural tube defect. Patients with MMC have multiple risk factors for venous thrombosis, but this complication rarely occurs. This lower rate of venous thrombosis in MMC children could be related to some characteristics of the vessels in the lower extremities. This study aimed at finding explanations for this dilemma.

METHODS

A case-control study was designed in the Children's Hospital Medical Center, Tehran considering paraplegic patients with MMC as the case group and nonparaplegic MMC patients as a control group. Doppler ultrasound was performed to evaluate femoral and popliteal arterial and venous properties.

RESULTS

Patients aged from 8 months to 12 years were evaluated. The mean diameter of the femoral arteries was 3.73 ± 0.23 and 4.72 ± 0.39 mm among paraplegic and nonparaplegic MMC patients, respectively (p = 0.02). The femoral artery flow was 0.52 ± 0.08 and 0.75 ± 0.06 L/min, respectively in the case and control groups (p = 0.015). The diameters of the femoral veins were 4.85 ± 0.34 and 5.13 ± 0.32 mm in the case and control groups, respectively (p > 0.05). Besides, the blood flows of the case and control groups' femoral veins were 0.27 ± 0.08 and 0.14 ± 0.01 L/min, respectively (p = 0.6). It turned out that lower extremities' arteries in the case group had significantly lower blood flow and diameter compared to those of the control group. However, the same venous properties did not show any significant differences.

CONCLUSION

The decreased arterial flow along with the unchanged venous properties leads to less stasis and better drainage of the blood, which in turn might result in a lower incidence of deep vein thrombosis.

Huge bilateral temporal horn entrapment: a congenital abnormality and management

BACKGROUND

Temporal horn entrapment is a rare disorder subsequent to obstruction around the trigone of the lateral ventricle caused by inflammations, tumors, infections, or after surgical processes. Most reports are unilateral and acquired but congenital ones have not been reported yet.

METHODS

Here we report the first congenital case of huge bilateral temporal horn entrapment. A six-month-old boy was admitted to our service with progressive intracranial hypertension who was managed with bilateral ventricular catheters and Y tube connected to one peritoneal catheter.

Natural History of Medulloblastoma in a Child with Neurofibromatosis Type I

Medulloblastoma is one of the common posterior fossa tumors in children. The natural history of this tumor in presymptomatic period is not well known. Widespread use of brain imaging has increased the detection of incidental brain tumors in totally asymptomatic persons. Here, we report a case of a 4-year-old boy with prenatal diagnosis of congenital brain abnormalities and neurofibromatosis type I. He underwent regular brain imaging to follow interhemispheric arachnoid cyst and ventriculomegaly that a posterior fossa tumor was discovered. The tumor size increased during time and became symptomatic after 28 months which was resected.