Effectiveness and success rates of endoscopic third ventriculostomy in patients under 2 years old

Objective: Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) stands out as an important option in the treatment of hydrocephalus without shunts. Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) has become more popular due to recent technical developments in endoscopic systems. But the urge of the physician, to provide a shuntfree survival for his patients, leads to performing the procedure in a unsuitable group of patients. Compared with shunt surgery, ETV presents a more physiological solution for the treatment of hydrocephalus. ETV is accepted as the first-line treatment method in many centers in appropriate cases in the treatment of obstructive hydrocephalus. The aim of this study is to examine the results of patients under the age of two underwent endoscopic third ventriculostomy. Methods: 79 patients who underwent ETV between 2011 and 2020 in our clinic and who were under 2 years of age at the time of operation were retrospectively analyzed. Results: 45 of 79 patients were male babies and 34 were female babies. The average age of the patients is 7 months (1 day - 22 months). In 39 (49.3%) patients, there was no need for repeat surgery in their follow-up after ETV. ETV procedure was repeated in 5 (6.3%) patients, and ventriluloperitoneal shunt (VPS) surgery was performed in 2 (2.5%) patients. In 13 patients, ventriculoperitoneal shunt was applied from the anterior and presented with shunt dysfunction. VPS surgery was not performed again after ETV in 3 (23%) of 13 patients after ETV. Conclusions: ETV can also be applied to patients younger than two years of age, and this treatment can give patients the chance to live a life independent of shunt.