HOME HELP CONTACT US SUBSCRIPTIONS CME ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Take the CME quiz: Vol. 9 No. 4, April 2003 Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My File Cabinet Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via CrossRef Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Piatt, J. H Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Piatt, J. H, Jr Related Collections Neurological Surgery

AAP Grand Rounds 9:44 (2003)
© 2003 American Academy of Pediatrics

Improvement in CSF Shunt Outcomes is an Elusive Goal

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

The development of practical, valve-regulated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunts in the 1950s transformed childhood hydrocephalus from a hopeless condition to a correctable surgical problem. Although endoscopic third ventriculostomy has recently allowed selected patients to be managed without CSF shunts,^1–3 shunts remain the mainstay of treatment for the majority of patients, and current shunts are virtually unimproved from the original designs of the mid-20^th century. For decades, patients from North America and Europe have been looking at a surprisingly consistent 30–40% risk of failure requiring reoperation within the first year of CSF shunt insertion.^4–7 Fortunately, after the first year, the annual risk of failure drops to as low as 5% per year.⁵

This stagnation of clinical outcomes has so far resisted . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Joseph H Piatt, Jr, MD, FAAP

Neurological Surgery and Pediatrics, Drexel University College of Medicine, St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA