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Spontaneous ventriculostomy in a patient with obstructive hydrocephalus.

Kim LJ, Feiz-Erfan I, Clatterbuck RE, Spetzler RF

Division of Neurological Surgery, Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center, Phoenix, Arizona 85013, USA.

BACKGROUND: Spontaneous ventriculostomy related to progressive obstructive hydrocephalus is rare. Radiologic demonstration of such a phenomenon can be delineated with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and cine MRI. CASE PRESENTATION: A 59-year-old woman with a known tectal glioma and symptoms of chronic hydrocephalus developed progressively worsening headaches. During follow-up, she noted spontaneous relief of her headaches. Follow-up cine MRI demonstrated a spontaneous ventriculostomy via the floor of the third ventricle. INTERPRETATION: Clinicians should be aware of spontaneous ventriculostomy demonstrable on cine MRI because it may obviate the need for a CSF diversion procedure.

Published 13 January 2005 in Acta Neurochir (Wien), 147(2): 219; discussion 219-20.
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