Yield and utility of radiographic "shunt series" in the evaluation of ventriculo-peritoneal shunt malfunction in adult emergency patients

Richard T. Griffey, Stephen Ledbetter, Ramin Khorasani

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

We examined the yield and utility of shunt series (SS) performed for suspected shunt malfunction and whether an abnormal SS lead to shunt revision when head computed tomography (CT) was normal or unchanged. We reviewed medical records for all adult emergency patients over a 34-month period with suspected shunt malfunction imaged with both SS and head CT to determine whether a shunt revision was performed contemporaneous with imaging. Nine (3.4%) abnormal SS were identified among 263 studies performed. Among the 192 cases in which CT was normal or unchanged, two patients with abnormal SS underwent contemporaneous shunt revision. Yield of SS is very low, and in the presence of a normal or unchanged head CT, SS provides the imaging basis for contemporaneous shunt revision in 1% (2/192) of cases.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)307-311
Number of pages5
JournalEmergency Radiology
Volume13
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2007

Keywords

  • Diagnostic techniques
  • Hydrocephalus
  • Neurological
  • Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt

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