Tag: Shunt

Ace High School Pitcher Thriving Despite Hydrocephalus

sarah JonasFeature

CHLA is at the forefront of research into endoscopic third ventriculostomy with choroid plexus cauterization (ETV+CPC) as part of a clinical trial funded by the Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network (HCRN), a network of 14 pediatric neurosurgery centers that includes Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. The trial, titled “Endoscopic Versus Shunt Treatment of Hydrocephalus in Infants,” is evaluating the effectiveness of shunts versus ETV-CPC in infants with hydrocephalus.

Reduction of Shunt Infection Rates in Adult Hydrocephalus Patients After Implementation of a Standardized Shunt Infection Prevention Protocol

sarah JonasResearch Results

Preoperative skin antisepsis added to a shunt infection control protocol resulted in a reduction of the infection rate to 0% in 379 consecutive procedures. Key to achieving this success were continuous monitoring and adjustments to the shunt protocol, which the authors believe can be easily generalized to other centers. Larger, multicenter studies should be completed to verify the effectiveness of the protocol reported in this study.