Minimally invasive procedure for removal of infected ventriculoatrial shunts

Effective Balloon Pulmonary Angioplasty in a Patient with Chronic Thromboembolic Complications after Ventriculoatrial Shunt for Hydrocephalus in von Hippel–Lindau Disease

Von Hippel–Lindau (VHL) disease along with chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) is a unique and unusual severe complication of ventriculoatrial (VA) shunt implantation in the treatment of hydrocephalus. To the best of our knowledge, this can be the first reported case of an effective treatment with balloon pulmonary angioplasty in a patient with VHL after VA shunt placement. The patient underwent six balloon pulmonary angioplasty procedures. All invasive procedures resulted in haemodynamic and functional improvement.

Endovascular retrieval of a broken distal ventriculoatrial shunt catheter within the heart: illustrative case

BACKGROUND

Displacement of a distal catheter of a ventriculoatrial (VA) shunt is a rare complication and can lead to a challenging extraction requiring endovascular retrieval of the distal catheter.

OBSERVATIONS

The authors describe a patient in whom the distal catheter of the VA shunt had become displaced and traveled through the tricuspid valve into the right ventricular outflow tract.

LESSONS

In this case report, the authors present a multidisciplinary approach to retrieving a displaced distal catheter from a VA shunt.