Hey I had a VP shunt placed and havent had any problems but I will keep this in mind but not everyone can benefit from the same shunt what works for you might not work for everyone but we do appreciate the info and glad you found what works for you

What were your vp shunt malfunction symptoms?

To Monkeym: All shunt types have the same malfunction symptoms, they are from high pressure because the shunt has failed. Like high pressure headaches, and vision problems may return if you were having vision problems prior to the shunt placement.

To Jenna89: I don't know anyone with PTC who hasn't had to have their ventricular shunt replaced eventually due to clogging of the medial end of the shunt tubing from ventricular collapse, and I have sure done my research on this. I have contacted quite a number of neurosurgeons to gather info on the failure rates of ventricular shunts in people with PTC, and the result is quite staggering. There are a portion who don't have a failire for many years, and those are found to have ventricles on the larger side. So that was not just my opinion, it is based on factual evidence received by numerous neurosurgeons all over the country. But I wish you well with your ventricular shunt, and pray that you are one of the few that don't have failure of your shunt.

I wasnt trying to be rude... I was simply saying there are cases where the VP shunt doesnt fail for many years the plain fact is no matter what shunt you have you do eventually have to get something revised and I was simply saying what works for you doesnt work for everyone and I know VP shunts dont work for everyone either no shunt is better then the other because it varies patient to patient thats all wasnt being rude..

I know you weren't being rude. I was just saying that I have done my research on the various shunts to help people with PTC, and so they don't have to be put through a lot of revisions with lumbar and ventricular shunts. Cisternal shunts are not a new thing, but many neurosurgeons do not know of them, and I want people to know that there is a better solution out there for them. The cisternal shunts that were placed 25 years ago still haven't failed, so they are, by far, the best thing to have. And if someone had let me know about this option, I wouldn't have had to go through the hell that I went through with the other shunts. That's all I was saying.

LP cauze zuction and herniation. VP too but over time, yearz. Rarely iz zhunt the anzwer. There are exceptionz but if you do homework the failure way excedez. Weigh decizion carefully and decide how many additional zurgeriez you are willing to endure. The dr. will replace/change valve until inzurance balk or guilt abt flogging you.

And notice how many on here end up having obztruction dizcovered, waz it mizzed earlier or due to zhunt? Dr give too high Dimox to ztart and zymptomz are intolerable, but thiz treatment haz to be tried before moving to zhunt...which payz well. Juzt zayin.

RE DIAMOX: Begin w/tiny amt, build zlow and back off a few day if zymptom are bad. At 500mg get capzule (better tolerated) and know ide effectz do level out.

(zorry for broken key)

I am 2 months post op. I had a vp shunt placed and boy did I feel wonderful afterwards. I started having minor headaches again about 5 weeks post op so we changed my setting and increased my migraine meds. At my 2 month post op appointment my NS states that he thinks my shunt is clogged. We left it at we will do nothing unless my headaches get bad. 5 hrs later I got a migraine that would not go away. At day 3 with this migraine my NS did a LP to see if my pressure was back up and dang it. It was. We talk options Wednesday but my ventricles are so small and it was pure luck he Andes the one he did in my right side. I'll mention this C. Shunt. But can you tell me more about how this shunt works? What is the surgery like? Where is the shunt placed? Recovery time? Etc. thanks!

Cisternal shunts are placed in the back of the neck where your skull and spine meet. The tubing is threaded down the spinal canal a little way. My NS took only the ventricle end of my VA shunt out, left the tubing on my skull down to my heart. He hooked the new cisternal tubing into the tubing going to my heart. So I still have the programmable valve and stuff. I will tell you that this surgery is worse than the ventricular surgery, because when they place the cisternal end, you lose a lot of spinal fluid. Your body does build it back up, but it takes a few days. So you have a low pressure headache whenever you are upright. The hospital gave me caffeine pills and Mtn Dew to help build it up faster. I think I was in the hospital about 4 or 5 days, but that was mostly because I had the surgery out of state and they wanted to make sure I was ok to travel home. Cisternal shunts don't clog because the spinal space in the neck is large and doesn't collapse on the tubing. And they don't over drain, because they aren't at the bottom of the spine, so gravity has no effect on it. Not all NS's know about cisternal shunts. They aren't new, so I don't know why they don't know about them. The NS that did mine was at a University Hospital, which is a teaching hospital so they are more current with alternatives. So I would try at a University Hospital where you live, if your NS doesn't know about them. I hope this helps, and if you need anything else please ask. I will try to help any way I can.

Thank you.

You are most certainly welcome! I am here to share my story, and what I have researched, to help prevent others from going through what I, and many others, have gone through. I wish I had known then what I know now, so that I didn't have to have all of those unnecessary surgeries!! I hope you can find a NS who knows about cisternal shunts, so that you can be symptom free for many many years to come!

Same as Torkildson shunt?

No the Torkildson shunt goes from the lateral ventricle in the brain to the cisterna magnum which is at the base of the skull. It is used for hydrocephalus patients, not PTC patients.

Is this a new procedure for hydro pts, my brother still has a functioning VP shunt for hydro for ovr 30 years.

The Torkildson shunt is used in noncommunicating or obstructive hydrocephalus. It connects the ventricles of the brain with the rest of the spinal fluid system by placing a shunt tubing into the ventricle and placing the other end into the cisternal-magnum space.