Abstract
Three cases of a rare complication of the shunt operation in hydrocephalus with high intracranial pressure were experienced, in which the extension of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) into the cerebral parenchyma along the ventricular catheter and the gradual disappearance of the fluid following shunt revision were clearly demonstrated on computed tomography (CT).
In one of the cases, a brain biopsy was carried out which revealed no definite ultrastructural change in the cortex, but did show definite changes in the subcortical white matter, such as a spongy appearance with vacuoles of various sizes, the absence of active destruction of the myelin sheath, and the absence of fat granule cells.
These complications were considered similar to CSF edema or infusion edema in animal experiments reported by Marmarou et al.. The phenomenon has not yet been reported in clinical cases.
