Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 22, 2026
Neuronavigation and Laparoscopy Guided Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Insertion for the Treatment of Hydrocephalus
Published on: October 14, 2022
Nonprogrammable and programmable cerebrospinal fluid shunt valves: a 5-year study
Timothy J Hatlen1, David B Shurtleff, John D Loeser
1Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA, USA.
Object:
Programmable valves (PVs) for shunting CSF have increasingly replaced nonprogrammable valves (NPVs). There have been only a few longer-term studies (≥ 5 years) conducted that have compared the effectiveness of NPVs with that of PVs for children with hydrocephalus, and only 1 study has reported NPVs as being favorable over PVs. The objective of this retrospective study was to compare the long-term survival of these 2 types of shunt valves.
Methods:
The authors collected data for all patients who underwent CSF shunt insertion or revision between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2008. Patients underwent follow-up for a minimum of 2 years postoperatively. Statistical analyses were done using chi-square, Kaplan-Meier survival curve, and multivariate analyses.
Results:
A total of 616 valves were implanted, of which 313 were PVs and 303 were NPVs. Of these, 253 were original shunt implantations and 363 were revisions. The proportion of 5-year survival for NPVs (45.8%) was significantly higher than that for PVs (19.8%) (p = 0.0005, log-rank). The NPVs that survived longer than 6 months also survived through the 5th year better than the PVs (p = 0.0001).
Conclusions:
The authors' data suggest that NPVs survive longer than PVs in children, but there is a need for prospective, case-control studies to confirm these data.
