Use of intracranial pressure monitoring in the management of childhood hydrocephalus and shunt-related problems.

Although the clinical and radiological diagnosis of hydrocephalus in children is usually straightforward, there exists a minority of patients in whom the decision to shunt can be extremely difficult. Similarly, although the diagnosis of shunt malfunction usually presents little difficulty in the context of an acute blockage, a child can present with a confusing and unpredictable constellation of symptoms that might be caused by conditions separate from shunt malfunction. Continuous intraparenchymal intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring was used to assess 41 patients with hydrocephalus, either as part of the initial diagnostic evaluation of ventriculomegaly (18 patients) or in the assessment of presumed shunt malfunction (23 patients). In 9 of 18 patients with ventriculomegaly, the ICP was within normal limits and surgical insertion of shunts was avoided. Of the 23 patients being assessed for shunt malfunction, the change in ICP profile indicated a siphoning or overdrainage process in 13. In no patient was there significant attendant morbidity, and the process was well tolerated and simple to perform. Clinical and radiological criteria alone can afford insufficient information in the initial evaluation and the subsequent management of the child with hydrocephalus. ICP monitoring provides a safe means of investigating such patients and provides valuable information upon which to base surgical management.