Symptomatic pleural effusion without intrathoracic migration of ventriculoperitoneal shunt catheter.

BACKGROUND: Symptomatic pleural effusion following ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt insertion is very rare. The patient was an 8-year-old girl who had VP shunt for hydrocephalus as a result of aqueductal stenosis. Six weeks after surgery, she presented with headache, vomiting and drowsiness. She developed respiratory distress with pain in the right lower chest region and right hypochondrium on admission.

METHODS: Chest X-ray confirmed right hydrothorax and showed the tip of the peritoneal catheter in the right suprahepatic subphrenic space. Her symptoms abated after the catheter was repositioned from the subphrenic region to the general peritoneal cavity. Repeat chest X-ray confirmed the resolution of the hydrothorax.

DISCUSSION: Shunt review without thoracocentesis or thoracostomy is an effective treatment of symptomatic hydrothorax following VP shunt, especially when there is no intrathoracic shunt migration.