Pseudotumor Cerebri Support Group

Pseudotumor cerebri (PTC) is a neurological disorder that is characterized by increased intracranial pressure, in the absence of a tumor or other diseases affecting the brain or its lining. Diagnosis requires brain scans and lumbar puncture. Characteristic symptoms are headache, transient visual obscurations or transient visual loss in one or both eyes usually lasting...

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/ Pseudotumor Cerebri Support Group

LP Shunt Blues

abra
abra
Last fall I was diagnosed with pseudotumor cerebri, long story short after being misdiagnosed three times, I ended up with damaged peripheral vision, two lumbar punctures and an lp shunt. I had the shunt put in early 2012, which was six weeks of low pressure but after that my eyesight improved and I was feeling good for once. At first, my back incision would swell and be hard but then go down but now is relatively flat. Lately, I have bulge larger than a softball on my abdomen area on the upper right side that is hard and looks like a ball. It doesn't really hurt but I have no idea with this could be. Has anyone else had this type of complication after an lp shunt? Thank you so much!
deleted_user
deleted_user
Hope some others will chime in, I have a VA not a LP shunt so cant help much but I have known some with LP shunts and it sounds to me like you could have a leak somewhere and those softballs could be made of CSF.

At one point I had soft balls in my peritoneal (pseudo cysts) made of CSF as my body was rejecting the CSF.

I would go back to your NS.

Also for what it is worth, you might be better of to post for help on the regular board vs the Advice area and more people will see it and hopefully respond.

Good luck.

TJ
deleted_user
deleted_user
I had an LP shunt for many, many years (1991-2012), and I have to agree with TJ here - a call to your NS is definitely in order. This could be a couple of things - there may be some changes in the tissues where your shunt is anchored in your abdomen which is preventing the reabsorption of the CSF into your peritoneum. It could also be the start of calcification of the anchoring site, and your body is having a reaction to the calcification. Another possibility is that it could be scar tissue from the surgery itself. I know that I do have some hard, bumpy patches along my initial suture line on my abdomen, but they're very small and I never really worried about them.

Please give your NS a call - always better to err on the side of caution! Hope this helps...

Take care -
Chris