Patient dependant on ventriculo-atrial shunt after 49 years.

ABSTRACT

The insertion of ventriculo-atrial (VA) shunts has been performed for the treatment of hydrocephalus since the 1950s. Thrombosis, infection, pulmonary hypertension, tricuspid stenosis, shunt nephritis, intra-cardiac migration due to displacement or fracture are reported complications. (1) We present the case of a 49-year-old female who had a VA shunt as a baby, that was never revised, who presented with a neck abscess related to the shunt tubing.