title: Long-term air-exposed functioning hydrocephalus valve with no infection.
abstract: One of the reasons for shunt infection is valve erosion through the skin. In such cases, it is common practice to instantly relocate the shunt to avoid infection. We present a 77-year-old female patient with a 15-month history of hydrocephalus valve extrusion. Despite her poor mental status, clinical condition and hygiene, and the prolonged extrusion period, she developed neither a local nor a cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) infection. The patient was ultimately treated with shunt removal and repositioning. An extensive literature review revealed no previous report of such a case. This case indicates that under rare conditions, central nervous system (CNS) implantable devices might not become contaminated and may remain functional, even if they remain exposed for prolonged periods.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University of Athens Medical School, Evangelismos General Hospital, Athens, Greece. kouyialis@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Andreas T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Kouyialis
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Stranjalis
authors.forename: Stefanos
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Korfias
authors.forename: Damianos E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Sakas
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015170:Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure; D020878:Device Removal; D004868:Equipment Failure; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006850:Hydrocephalus, Normal Pressure / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012086:Reoperation; D013997:Time Factors; D017287:Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt / Q000295:instrumentation*