ReviewChild's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery2021
Infant hydrocephalus: what valve first?
Review in Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 14 citations in OpenAlex.
- Distinct Clinical Phenotypes of Infection and Mechanical Dysfunction in Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Complications.Cureus · 2026Article
- Rate and risk factors for shunt revision in pediatric patients with hydrocephalus during a 17-year study period: a retrospective, population-based study.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2025Article
- The Evolution of Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Valves and Why They Fail.World neurosurgery · 2025Review
- Nonadjustable state of programmable shunt valve: obstruction of middle cranial fossa arachnoid cyst-peritoneal shunt.Chinese neurosurgical journal · 2024Article
- Selective dorsal rhizotomy outcomes in mixed spasticity and dystonia cases.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2024Article
- Hydrocephalus in prematurity: does valve choice make a difference?Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2024Article
- Optimization of number and range of shunt valve performance levels in infant hydrocephalus: a machine learning analysis.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2024Article
- Development of shunt valves used for treating hydrocephalus: comparison with endoscopy treatment.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2023Review
- The survival time of the ventriculo-peritoneal-shunt in children with hydrocephalus is dependent on the type of valve implanted.Pediatric surgery international · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeTo review the use of different valve types in infants with hydrocephalus, in doing so, determining whether an optimal valve choice exists for this patient cohort.
methodsWe conducted (1) a literature review for all studies describing valve types used (programmable vs. non-programmable, valve size, pressure) in infants (≤ 2 years) with hydrocephalus, (2) a review of data from the pivotal BASICS trial for infant patients and (3) a separate, institutional cohort study from Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The primary outcome was any revision not due to infection.
resultsThe search identified 19 studies that were included in the review. Most did not identify a superior valve choice between programmable and non-programmable, small compared to ultra-small, and differential pressure compared to flow-regulating valves. Five studies investigated a single-valve type without a comparator group. The BASICS data identified 391 infants, with no statistically significant difference between gravitational and programmable subgroups. The institutional data from our tertiary referral centre did not reveal any significant difference in failure rate between valve subtypes.
conclusionOur review highlights the challenges of valve selection in infant hydrocephalus, reiterating that the concept of an optimal valve choice in this group remains a controversial one. While the infant-hydrocephalic population is at high risk of valve failure, heterogeneity and a lack of direct comparison between valves in the literature limit our ability to draw meaningful conclusions. Data that does exist suggests at present that there is no difference in non-infective failure rate are increasing in number, with the British valve subtypes in infant hydrocephalus, supported by both the randomised trial and institutional data in this study.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.