title: Time to First Shunt Failure in Pediatric Patients over 1 Year Old: A 10-Year Retrospective Study.
abstract: Studies comparing alternatives to ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunting for treatment of hydrocephalus have often relied upon data from an earlier era that may not be representative of contemporary shunt survival outcomes. We sought to determine the shunt survival rate of our cohort and compare our results to previously published shunt survival and endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) success rates. We identified 95 patients between 1 and 18 years of age, who underwent initial VP shunt placement between January 2001 and December 2010. Our study shows a shunt survival rate of 85% at 6 months and 79% at 2 years, for initial shunts in pediatric patients over 1 year of age in this cohort. The overall infection rate was 3%. This compares favorably with published success rates of ETV at similar time points as well as with the rate of infection. This suggests that ventricular shunting remains a viable alternative to ETV in the older child.
authors.forename: Chevis N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Shannon
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Carr
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tomycz
authors.forename: John C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wellons
authors.forename: Noel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tulipan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D055499:Catheter-Related Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004868:Equipment Failure / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000601:surgery*; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D044583:Neuroendoscopy; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020542:Third Ventricle / Q000601:surgery*; D017287:Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014696:Ventriculostomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*