title: [Cerebrospinal fluid ascites from a ventriculoperitoneal shunt].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In a patient with hydrocephalus, the placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt is the first treatment of choice. Cerebrospinal fluid ascites is a rare complication of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt, particularly a late complication which can arise more than two years after the implantation of the shunt.
  
  
  METHODS
  We describe a 29-year-old woman who developed cerebrospinal fluid ascites 15 years after a ventriculoperitoneal shunt had been placed. She was referred due to abdominal pain. Ultrasound showed ascites and a CT scan showed free fluid in all of the abdominal compartments. The ascites disappeared after a ventriculoatrial shunt was placed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This case demonstrates that cerebrospinal fluid ascites can occur as a late complication, years after the placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt.
authors.affiliation: Groene Hart Ziekenhuis, afd. Interne geneeskunde, Gouda, the Netherlands. w.j.houtman@gmail.com
authors.forename: W J Wilma
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Houtman-van Duinen
authors.forename: Yvonne M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Ende-Verhaar
authors.forename: Godard C W
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: de Ruiter
authors.forename: Adelheid M E
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: van der Torren-Conze
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001201:Ascites / Q000209:etiology*; D002555:Cerebrospinal Fluid; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D017287:Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt / Q000009:adverse effects*