Utility of ventricular access in an acute deterioration after endoscopic third ventriculostomy

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) has now been accepted widely as a safe procedure for treatment of non-communicating hydrocephalus. Despite its learning curve, most of the neurosurgeons have understood its technical details, benefits, and risks and have started to practice it to perfection. The benefit of shunt independence with minimal risks offers a remarkable advantage which has made this procedure widely popular. However, late closure of stoma leading to morbidity and even death has been reported off late. We report a case of a 7-year-old girl with hydrocephalus due to tectal glioma who deteriorated after 7 months following a successful procedure. She developed a cardio-respiratory arrest and was resuscitated with aspiration of cerebrospinal fluid from the ommaya reservoir kept during the primary surgery. Keeping all the patients under strict surveillance for stoma patency is mandatory and in addition, ommaya reservoir in certain high-risk patients may be a useful option for achieving quick ventricular access by medical and nonmedical personnel in case of deterioration. This case is the first reported case of acute deterioration after ETV from India. Previously, 14 such cases have been reported worldwide and only 2 of them have survived.