can this be shunt failure

[marge59]

29 year old with hydro since birth, shunted since age one. Presenting with acute dizziness, weakness and inability to walk, chest pain, cold hands, swooning. Is this shunt related or something else?

[sandra206288]

Where are you located? You seem like the doctor to see.  You have to give us your contact information.  After my MRI on Jan 12, I saw my nuerosurgeon right away-the same day.  He must have missed that my shunt moved from 1.5 to 0.5  After he dismissed my dizziness and nausea and even sent me to a gastro  MD (I saw him 3 more times) a resident finally found the problem and adjusted me to 1 (ONE) then to 1.5 a week later when I was sick.  CT Scan showed that my ventricles are small and fine.  After ONE week, I still throw up and my balance is completely off. I was FINE after surgery in September for over 2 months.  I got sick AFTER the MRI and have been doing poorly for 3 months.  How long does it take once shunt is adjusted to feel better? The neurosurgeon keeps saying tumor (he had to leave some of astrocytoma in 4th ventricle) is in area that causes nausea and dismissing my concerns.  I am in a lot of pain and very nauseous.  Should I request he do anything else, or find another doctor?

[Dr. A. Srivastava]

Thank you for your question. Although without being able to examine you I can not offer you the specific advice on diagnosis and treatment that you need, but I would try to provide you some relevant information about your health concern.

If you have continuous symptoms, possible causes may be shunt is either under-draining or over-draining. Your doctor can assess this with a lumbar puncture and measures the fluid pressure. He/She may make some adjustment of the shunt to allow it to drain more and can monitor if the headache and other symptoms improve. Another possibility could be shunt is over-draining, that may lead to low CSF pressure that can also lead to headache. This may improve when the person lies down and gets worse when the person sits or stands. If this doesn’t help, please arrange an appointment with a neurologist right away who will evaluate the further underlying disorders here that may be the main reasons of her headaches and can suggest her appropriate treatment. Hope this information proves helpful to you.

[ttaylor588]

I am a mother of a child with a VP shunt. Your "acute dizziness" and "inability to walk" has me concerned. I would definitely see the doctor, just in case. Have you ever had any revisions since your shunt was placed?

[Cath278]

Hi. I have just had all the same symptoms as you, and after a few days in hospital, it was determined that my pressure was too high. I also have a Vp shunt but only for a yr and I have IIH. Not the same but alike. Could this be it with you? I thought that my shunt was blocked as well as the drs at first.But Cat scan was clear. Hope this helps a bit. Cath278