Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39964446›Full record

ArticleChild's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery2025

Managing hydrocephalus in 54 infants under 3 months of age: A single center cohort study.

S R M Van Rijen, F Groenendaal, K S Han, M L Tataranno, P A Woerdeman

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Article in Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Evaluation of nationwide variation in post-haemorrhagic ventricular dilatation management following national guideline implementation in the Netherlands.Child's nervous system : ChNS : official journal of the International Society for Pediatric Neurosurgery · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

S R M Van RijenDivision of Neuroscience, Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, and Utrecht University, PO Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
F GroenendaalDepartment of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, and Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
K S HanDivision of Neuroscience, Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, and Utrecht University, PO Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
M L TatarannoDepartment of Neonatology, Wilhelmina Children's Hospital, University Medical Center Utrecht, and Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
P A WoerdemanDivision of Neuroscience, Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Center Utrecht, and Utrecht University, PO Box 85500, 3508 GA, Utrecht, The Netherlands. p.a.woerdeman@umcutrecht.nl.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeManaging hydrocephalus in infants can be very challenging. The most used permanent hydrocephalus treatment in young patients is a ventriculoperitoneal shunt (VPS) placement. Obstructive hydrocephalus in selected young patients can be treated with endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV). However, in infants less than 6 months of age, the outcome of both procedures remains to be bothered with complications, revision surgeries and long-term shunt dependency. This retrospective study analyzes the management of hydrocephalus in 54 very young infants with different etiological causes.

methodsData was collected retrospectively from a single center university hospital over a 5-year period (2018-2022). All patients under 3 months of age with progressive ventriculomegaly confirmed by cranial ultrasound (cUS), who required neurosurgical intervention, were eligible for this study. Hydrocephalus was treated with serial tapping from a ventricular access device (VAD), placement of ventriculoperitoneal shunts and/or performing a thulium laser-assisted ETV.

resultsTwelve patients benefited sufficiently from a VAD to normalize ventricular volume lastingly. Forty-two patients required permanent treatment (28 underwent a VPS; 14 an ETV if there was obstructive hydrocephalus) at an average age of 2.5 months. The VPS failure rate was 32.1% and the ETV failure rate was 50%. Although not significantly different, patients with failed ETV tended to be younger than patients with successful ETV (p = 0.38). One week before permanent ETV treatment, relatively large ventricular volumes were measured in failed ETV patients, as compared to successful ETVs.

conclusionsManaging hydrocephalus in very young infants remains challenging regarding surgical strategy, reducing shunt dependency and decreasing current complication rates. In addition to a VPS, an ETV has shown to be a successful treatment option for hydrocephalus in well-selected very young infants. The opportunity to decrease ventricular volume with a VAD could have contributed to the success of an ETV in this young patient group.

Indexed as

HydrocephalusVentriculoperitoneal ShuntVentriculostomyCohort StudiesDisease ManagementFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornMaleNeuroendoscopyRetrospective StudiesThird VentricleTreatment OutcomeEndoscopic third ventriculostomyHydrocephalusNeonatalVentricular access deviceVentriculoperitoneal shunt

Identifiers

PMID39964446
PMCPMC11836075

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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.