title: Unusual proximal migration of ventriculoperitoneal shunt into the heart.
abstract: Quite a number of cases of upward shunt migration have already been reported in the literature. In this paper, the intracardiac migration of a peritoneal shunt tube of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt system is reported. This is a rare complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunting and was diagnosed by a plain radiograph of the chest and a direct open heart surgery. To the author's knowledge this is the first reported case of migration of a peritoneal shunt tube into the heart. The authors postulate possible mechanisms and a physioanatomical explanation on the basis of the surgical findings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, Catholic University Medical College, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Jeun
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: I W
authors.initials: IW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: W H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Sung
mesh_terms: D004868:Equipment Failure; D005548:Foreign-Body Migration / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006321:Heart / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D013902:Radiography, Thoracic; D017287:Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt