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Background: Ventriculoperitoneal shunt obstruction remains a major problem in pediatric neurosurgery. We analyzed the tissue reaction to ventriculoperitoneal shunts and compared the histology versus time elapsed to shunt failure., Methods: 85 ventricular catheter tissues samples obtained from 71 patients were reviewed along with time elapsed to shunt revision. Pathology reports of all tissue samples were divided into three categories: inflammatory based on the presence of lymphocytes, macrophages, and microglial cells; reactive based on the presence of fibro-connective tissue, reactive astrocytes, and Rosenthal fibers; and normal brain tissue based on presence of choroid plexus. These categories were then grouped according to time elapsed to shunt revision. Group I had those shunts revised <6 months, group II included shunts revised between 6 months and 3 years, while group III had shunts revised after more than 3 years., Results: The incidence of inflammatory type of histology was 44% (16/36) in group I, 22% (6/27) in group II, and 18% (4/22) in group III. The reactive histology was 42% (15/36) in group I, 67% (18/27) in group II, and 77% (17/22) in group III. There was a clear noted difference of incidence between inflammatory versus reactive histology between early shunt failure compared to late shunt failure. Incidence of normal brain tissue remained high in group I with 8%, 11% in group II, and none in group III., Conclusion: Early shunt obstruction arises from pathologies different from those causing late shunt obstructions., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Aicardi syndrome is a cerebroretinal disorder originally described in 1965. Its salient clinical features are infantile spasms, agenesis of corpus callosum, hypsarrhythmia, and a pathognomonic optic disc appearance consisting of multiple depigmented chorioretinal lacunae clustered around the disc., Methods: Clinical report with cranial computed tomography and biopsy results., Results: A 3-year-old female patient presented with Aicardi syndrome and progressive proptosis of the left eye since birth. Visual acuity was light perception only in the right eye. Ocular motility examination showed large angle of left exotropia. Direct funduscopy showed a large optic nerve head and chorioretinal lacunae in the right eye; the left eye was not visible. Magnetic resonance imaging detected a large retrobulbar cyst and left microphthalmia. The patient underwent neurosurgery. Intraoperative microscopic dissection of the dural membrane led to exposure of an underlying cyst, which was 80% resected. Biopsies of walls of the orbital cyst showed fragments of neuroglial and meningothelial tissues with some calcification and mild chronic inflammation. Psammoma bodies were identified. The diagnosis was heterotopic brain tissue., Conclusions: Heterotopia of brain tissue within the orbits is a very rare finding. Two previous reports have described an orbital cyst in association with Aicardi syndrome, both attributed to encephaloceles. We report a very rare case of heterotopia of brain tissue in Aicardi syndrome. The patient did not have an encephalocele.

Case Report: The particularities of the surgical procedure for the separation of craniopagi twins performed at UCLA in 2002 are presented. The main difficulty for the neurosurgeons was that the twins shared a common sagittal sinus and that one of the sisters had a poorly developed collateral venous system, thus anticipating a set of postoperative clinical problems. During surgery, the response of the brain to the progressive occlusion of the venous bridges was monitored with EEG and Doppler ultrasound. One of the sisters had a large intracerebral hematoma that was evacuated and later developed hydrocephalus, which was treated with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt., Outcome: One of the sisters had a basically uneventful recovery while the other contracted E. coli meningitis 8 months after surgery, thus impairing her motor and cognitive development., Discussion: The details and intricacies of the anesthesia and plastic surgery are also outlined.