title: Success of endoscopic third ventriculostomy in children less than 2 years of age.
abstract: Current literature reveals different opinions about the effectiveness of endoscopic third ventriculostomy in the treatment of hydrocephalus in children less than 2 years of age. Performing a retrospective evaluation of our own experience in this age group, we aimed to contribute to the growing data on the controversial issues related to this procedure in children. In a series of 97 endoscopic third ventriculostomy procedures, 25 were performed in children less than 2 years of age as an initial treatment for hydrocephalus. A retrospective analysis of our data revealed that the overall success rate of endoscopic third ventriculostomy in this age group was 56%. However, analysis of the results in subgroups with different etiologies of hydrocephalus showed that the success rate of the procedure was 83% in patients with defined anatomic obstruction, 66.6% in post-hemorrhagic hydrocephalus, 50% in infection related hydrocephalus and 41.6% in hydrocephalus accompanied by myelomeningocele. This article considers our data and the features of endoscopic third ventriculostomy procedure in this age group, with a detailed review of the literature. In our experience, the success of endoscopic third ventriculostomy is etiology related rather than age-dependent. We suggest that there are no grounds for denying children younger than 2 years this chance for a shunt-free life.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli University, 41900, Derince, Kocaeli, Turkey. drvolkanetus@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Volkan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Etus
authors.forename: Savas
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ceylan
mesh_terms: D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020542:Third Ventricle / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017211:Treatment Failure; D016896:Treatment Outcome