Ventriculoperitoneal shunt migration into the pulmonary artery: Case report and literature review

Abstract

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt placement is a commonly performed procedure for patients with hydrocephalus of various etiologies.

We present the case of a 68-year-old male patient treated with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt for obstructive hydrocephalus management. Eight years later, a computed tomography (CT) scan detected migration of distal catheter into the pulmonary artery. We conducted a systematic review in Medline database using PubMed search engine to identify previous cases and their management. Our literature review identified eighteen single case reports describing this complication and different strategies to attempt catheter retrieval. To the best authors’ knowledge, this is the first case where conservative management was chosen.