Delayed intracerebral hemorrhage after ventriculo-peritoneal shunt procedure: two case reports and a review of literature

X.-T. Wang, L.-Y. Zhang, H.-T. Lv, J. Liu, Y.-H. Xu

Graduate School of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning, China. xuyh_dl@dmu.edu.cn

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• Neurosurgery

OBJECTIVE: Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt (VPS) is a commonly used procedure for treating hydrocephalus of various causes. Delayed intracerebral hemorrhage (DICH) is regarded as a very rare complication after VPS procedure, with mechanisms still indeterminate. We report two cases of this condition whereby we discuss the characteristics and potential explanations for it in a short review of literature.

CASE REPORT: Two female patients, aged 49, 76 respectively, were admitted to our hospital for hydrocephalus in the year 2021 as ordinary participants among many other patients with the same diagnosis. Unforeseeably, what made them special was DICH situations occurred after regular VPS procedures. Luckily both of them responded well to subsequent conservative treatment with no deterioration and were discharged promisingly in the end. Surprisingly, both of the valve mechanisms in these two functioned properly so far even after the ominous DICH events. Quality of life also improved a lot for them, thus we could consider the VPS surgery successful as well as the later management of the unwanted hematomas, in other words, a full recovery from DICH.

CONCLUSIONS: Only few cases or series of DICH were reported in the past decades and the mechanisms of it still lack a verdict. We intend to attribute physical vascular injury due to a closer contact between cerebral blood vessels and the VPS catheter for DICH in the younger patient, while degenerative changes of brain tissue might be the protagonist in the elder one. More discreetness should be expected in perioperative management of VPS patients, with still a long way to go to fully understand the mechanisms of DICH and prevent the complication in highest measure.

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