Iatrogenic complications following shunting the subarachnoid space in infancy

Background Of those patients who require extracranial shunting to manage CSF circulation disorders, some of the most challenging are those whose shunts have been placed in the subarachnoid space in infancy or childhood. While clinically well in childhood, with few if any revisions, a symptom complex may develop in mid to late childhood that is characterized by chronic, often non-specific headaches and intermittent intracranial hypertension associated with abducens palsy and/or papilloedema. Imaging shows some combination of decompressed CSF spaces, acquired hindbrain herniation or posterior fossa crowding, diploic hypertrophy, narrow spinal canal and meningeal thickening. ICP monitoring does not always provide clarification of the clinical ICP correlation.