Ventricular shunting for hydrocephalus following intraventricular haemorrhage

31 patients underwent ventricular shunting (17 VA and 14 VP) for post-haemorrhagic hydrocephalus over 11 years. The mean gestational age was 31.8 +/- 4.17 (1 SD) weeks and birth weight 1.83 +/- 0.77 (1 SD) kg, with no differences between the VA and VP groups. Shunts inserted less than 5 weeks of age failed more frequently than those inserted after 5 weeks. There were 5 early (less than 30 days) blocks all in VP shunts (p = 0.023) but no difference in distal catheter blockage rate (p = 0.14). There were no early infections. In later follow-up, 35% of patients had block episodes and 22% infective episodes with no significant difference between the type of shunt used. Overall mortality was 6.5% and not related to shunt complications. Revisions were more frequent in VP shunts (0.9 revisions/shunt year) than VA shunts (0.6 revs/shunt year). Using life table analysis 60% of VP and 30% of VA shunts failed within 2 years of insertion.