Delayed intracerebral hemorrhage after ventriculoperitoneal shunting.

A rare complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunting is presented. In this case, a moderate-sized intracerebral hemorrhage (3 to 5 cm in maximal diameter) occurred 1 week after operation for idiopathic hydrocephalus in a 43-year-old woman. The patient recovered fully without operative intervention. No other case of delayed intracerebral hemorrhage after a ventricular shunting procedure was found in a review of the literature. The presumed mechanism in the present case is delayed erosion of a cerebral blood vessel by the ventricular catheter.