title: Ventriculosinus shunt.
abstract: Hydrocephalus can be managed successfully with cerebrospinal fluid shunting to extracranial compartments, most commonly the peritoneum. However, current shunt systems are not ideal with high revision rates on long-term follow-up. Draining the cerebrospinal fluid from the cerebral ventricles to the cerebral venous sinuses could mimic the physiological conditions with the added advantages of avoiding overdrainage and extracranial recipient site complications. A literature search was carried out using the keywords hydrocephalus, shunt, venous sinus and sagittal sinus. Seven clinical series of ventriculosinus shunts with a total of 265 patients were found. None of the patients developed venous sinus thrombosis, air embolism or intra-operative sinus bleeding. Ventriculosinus shunt is a potential alternative that can be done under local anaesthetic in ill patients where traditional shunts recipient sites are not feasible. However, further studies with extended follow-up period would provide better understanding of the suitability and indications of this technique.
authors.affiliation: Victor Horsley Department of Neurosurgery, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK. ahmedktoma@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Ahmed K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Toma
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tarnaris
authors.forename: Neil D
authors.initials: ND
authors.lastname: Kitchen
authors.forename: Laurence D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Watkins
mesh_terms: D002552:Cerebral Ventricles; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts / Q000009:adverse effects; D003392:Cranial Sinuses; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000601:surgery*; D054063:Superior Sagittal Sinus; D016896:Treatment Outcome