RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Right pleural effusion due to a migrating ventriculoperitoneal shunt
JF Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine
JO Cleve Clin J Med
FD Cleveland Clinic
SP 144
OP 146
VO 61
IS 2
A1 David P. Meeker
A1 Gene H. Barnett
YR 1994
UL http://www.ccjm.org/content/61/2/144.abstract
AB BACKGROUND Pseudotumor cerebri or benign intracranial hypertension is a collection of disorders characterized by papilledema and increased intracranial pressure without associated neurologic abnormalities and wherein the cerebrospinal fluid composition is normal. Therapy may consist of diuretics, acetazolamide, and, in more severe cases, ventricular shunts.SUMMARY A patient with pseudotumor cerebri and a ventriculoperitoneal shunt presented with dyspnea early in her pregnancy. Chest roentgenography revealed a right pleural effusion and a shunt catheter in the right pleural space. The patient underwent four thoracenteses, and a new shunt was placed after the baby was born.CONCLUSIONS Physicians should recognize the potential for a ventriculoperitoneal shunt to migrate from the peritoneum to the pleural space. In a pregnant patient, it is reasonable to perform serial thoracenteses as a temporizing measure, and the shunt can be definitively revised in an elective surgical procedure postpartum.