Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Infections Cause Acute Abdomen and Peritonitis: A Case Series.

Background: Patients with ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) often present to emergency departments with acute abdomen. It is challenging to distinguish between the abdominal problems caused by a VPS and acute surgical abdomen having another cause because VPS infections occasionally cause peritonitis. The frequencies and clinical features of acute abdomen caused by VPS infection are unknown.

I can hear my shunt-audible noises associated with CSF shunts in hydrocephalic patients.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunts are life-long implants, and patients have reported anecdotally on noises associated with their shunts. There is, however, a marked lack of information regarding acoustic phenomena related to CSF shunts.

Methods: We identified all patients who had been treated or followed in our neurosurgical department within a 15-year period from January 2000 up to the end of 2014.