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Updated: May 19, 2026

Neuronavigation and Laparoscopy Guided Ventriculoperitoneal Shunt Insertion for the Treatment of Hydrocephalus
Published on: October 14, 2022
Breast-related CSF shunt complications: literature review with illustrative case
Rudolph J Schrot1, Christine Ramos-Boudreau, James E Boggan
1Department of Neurological Surgery, UC Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California 95817, USA. rudolph.schrot@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu
In this article, we discuss and classify breast-related ventriculoperitoneal (VP) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt complications, and provide a literature review. Shunt complications related to pre-existing breast implants comprise nearly half of the breast-related shunt complications reported thus far. We present a complication of shunt failure in a 61-year-old woman who had previously undergone mastectomies for breast cancer with implant reconstruction. Following shunting, she developed headaches, fever, and right-sided breast swelling and erythma consequent to breast implant rupture, distal shunt migration, and CSF pseudocyst. This case is unique in that it involved rupture of a breast implant from VP shunt insertion. For complication avoidance, neurosurgeons should be aware of the potential pitfalls in shunting patients with breast implants.
In this article, we discuss and classify breast-related ventriculoperitoneal (VP) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt complications, and provide a literature review. Shunt complications related to pre-existing breast implants comprise nearly half of the breast-related shunt complications reported thus far. We present a complication of shunt failure in a 61-year-old woman who had previously undergone mastectomies for breast cancer with implant reconstruction. Following shunting, she developed headaches, fever, and right-sided breast swelling and erythma consequent to breast implant rupture, distal shunt migration, and CSF pseudocyst. This case is unique in that it involved rupture of a breast implant from VP shunt insertion. For complication avoidance, neurosurgeons should be aware of the potential pitfalls in shunting patients with breast implants.
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