Cor pulmonale as a complication of ventriculo-atrial shunts reviewed.

The authors present the case of a nine-year-old patient with spina bifida and hydrocephalus treated with a ventriculo-atrial shunt who developed fatal pulmonary hypertension 5 1/2 years after his last valve revision; he had been well and active up to one month before his death. Details of the dramatic cardiovascular findings are given. The problems of treatment, once symptoms occur, and the difficulty of pre-symptomatic detection are discussed.