shunt removal

[kelmike66]

My son is 16yrs old and has had a VP shunt in place since he was three. I have been told the shunt is not functioning and can be removed. He had a Arcnoid Cyst, the cyst is no longer there the shunt has done it's job.He has severe anger out burst, his moods can go form fine to one second and out of control the next. He has had a Nero Phsyc Evaluation done and it has shown he has signigfant brain damage on the left side of his brain. My feeling is the shunt may be inerfearing with brain activitey. I am woundering if anyone has had a shunt removed succsefully or what kind of complications they had due to having the shunt removed. Any help would be appreciated.

[mimi2121]

Depends on whether he is ventricles are normal size and if there is no swelling.  There is this surgery that it's called third ventriclitist where they remove the shunt and puncture a hole thru a ventricle to allow this to do the same as a shunt would.  More successful with tumor patients.  My daughter has  a shunt due to hydrocephulus caused by a hemmorage.  she is 21 years old.  She has SVS and has headaches and neausea at times.  

I would go for a second opinion and third if necessary.  

[kelmike66]

My son just went through surgery to have his shunt tied. And now we are waiting to see about the removal of his shunt.He is doing very well showing no signs of headaches. At the same time I have had 4 opinions. Some say leave it and some say it can come out.Leaving it in may cause him problems later in life, with it getting to tight and causing pain. So we are choosing to have it removed.We had test run before the first surgery so we new the shunt was not functioning. The test that was done was called a nuclear test they put dye into the shut and it should flow down and show as a bright burst of white if the fluid is passing trough. I don't now were you are located but Shands and Arnold Palmer are great hospitals and specialize in this kind of thing they are located in Florida.Wish everyone luck. Thank you so much for sharing I don't feel like I am all alone anymore.

[matthoward]

i have had shunt in head since 7 , now 37.   Connects down to abdomen.  probably hasn't functioned since 9 yrs old.  

wonder how much it costs to remove it?  any docs wanna chime in?

[Zeyn]

I was wondering how  the surgery was did they take out the shunt?? My son had a VP shunt put in at 3 years old. 3 years ago he had his shunt tied off and an ETV surgery but  it didn't work so  our dr put in a programmable valve and started to set the pressure until last year now it's at the highest pressure (miethke progav) .He says its closed now but to be sure He said he wants to tie the shunt off now and then possibly next year he can take it out remove it. If not he will just untie the shunt tube. He's 10 years old now I hope it works.  

[Zeyn]

Well my son had his VP shunt tied off on the 16th of June and he's doing great. So the ETV surgery started to work after 2 years.The Dr. said that he doesn't need his shunt anymore. We'll decide if we should take it out next summer or leave it in. For now we are very happy so this means ETV may start to work later and shunt removal is possible.

[Strickland1999]

I am 14. I'm interested in shunt removal. I've had one since I was six months or younger. I don't like talkin to my mom about it. I haven't had a checkup on it in two years. Does anyone think I would be able to get it removed. If I can what kinda risk I'm at as well. Thanks.

[andreasro]

Dear  Strickland1999,

I have a 5 year old son. And I am asking myself what would he say about your age or older about his shunt independency. Would he like us to remove that shunt now or not?

Why do YOU want to remove it? I want to see how YOU feel about it. Did you see a specialist?

I don't know what is your case and if you went to a neurologist or neurosurgeon to talk about it. There are cases when removal of a shunt is possible because either your are shunt independent or the ETV procedure may work in your case and you could become shunt independent. All I know is that there are some studies about shunt removal both in subdural peritoneal shunts and ventricular peritoneal ones. They are rare case, but possible.

Also, can anyone give feedback about a shunt removal? Thank you.

[Aashmaya]

Mr. matthoward,
din't you have to suffered any complications from your vp shunt till such a long time? Actually my baby girl also have placed it. she is going to be 2 years in coming month. and shunt was placed when she was only 4 month.
didn't you ask to your Dr. if it can be removed from your body? should you visit regular to your doctor?
your answer would be very much helpful for me. please reply me.

Thank you.

[matthoward]

after over 30 years of old shunt (non-working) I don't notice too much in way of problems over the years.  Abdominal bloating somewhat.  Just living life, working all these years to survive, pay rent , food etc. , grin and bear it, I guess.  Unfortunately you get laughed outa places at times with scars on your head.  Maybe 10 yrs ago neuro dr said nothing they can do.  "leave it in" they said  and on your way and please pay our bill.  

[joeysmumanddad]

hi,our little boy,joe,also has slit ventricle syndrome.we have had many shunt revisions(9 or 10),we've lost count,as you know its terribly stressful every time this happens.were waiting for an appointment to talk about another procedure that the neurosurgeon feels would benefit joe.i was only told the gist of this while joe was recovering from his last revision,the appointment is to talk about it more in depth.it involves removing a small piece of skull from each temporal area(i think to kind of create 2 soft spots(fontanelles)).this would create more room in joes head,therefore not as much pressure.Weve looked online and think this may be classed as 'sub temporal decompression',does anybody have any knowledge/experience on this please,
thank you,sarah and ian

[matthoward]

been 35 years now with shunt and it's non-functioning since maybe 9 years old.... Unfortunately have hair loss and scars can clearly be seen and the bump seen.. I get laughed outa places often and made fun of.  So I won't lie, it's no good.  Now if you have a full head of hair, then it should be fine.   Basically I gotta wear a baseball cap.  Except at work .  Gotta survive and pay the bills, rent, food , car etc..    Just move on with it , as they say

[Celle_Stackz_18]

That has happened to me a lot and I am having severe neck pain every day and would like to get my shut removed