title: Migration of distal ventriculoperitoneal shunt catheter into the pulmonary artery.
abstract: A 50-year-old man presented with an abdominal bulge 2 years after receiving a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt for hydrocephalus. Chest radiography revealed that the peritoneal end of the catheter had migrated into the right pulmonary artery. Exploration through a small neck incision revealed that the shunt catheter had entered the internal jugular vein. The catheter was extracted and positioned in the subcutaneous space in preparation for reimplantation. This type of shunt migration is quite unusual, but it could cause lethal pulmonary infarction or arrhythmia. Follow-up radiography should be scheduled to detect such complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Organ Regenerative Surgery, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime, Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ryugo
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Imagawa
authors.forename: Mitsugi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagashima
authors.forename: Fumiaki
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Shikata
authors.forename: Naoki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Kanji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kawachi
keywords: hydrocephalus; migration; ventriculoperitoneal shunt
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