Multiple echocardiography abnormalities associated with endoscopic third ventriculostomy failure

OBJECTIVE Although endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) with choroid plexus cauterization (CPC) has gained increasing prominence in the management of hydrocephalus caused by intraventricular hemorrhage of prematurity, the rates of long-term shunt independence remain low. Furthermore, limited evidence is available to identify infants who might benefit from the procedure. The authors tested the hypothesis that elevated venous pressure that results from comorbid cardiac disease might predispose patients to ETV/CPC failure and shunt dependence. METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed on a consecutive series of 48 infants with hydrocephalus who underwent ETV/CPC and also underwent preoperative echocardiography between 2007 and 2014. Comorbid cardiac abnormalities that are known to result in elevated right heart pressure were reviewed. Associations between ETV/CPC success and the presence of pulmonary hypertension, right ventricular hypertrophy, left-to-right shunting, ventricular septal defect, or patent ductus arteriosus were determined using multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS Of the 48 children who met the inclusion criteria, ETV/CPC failed in 31 (65%). In univariate analysis, no single echocardiogram abnormality was associated with shunt failure, but the presence of 2 or more concurrent echocardiogram abnormalities was associated with ETV/CPC failure (17 [85%] of 20 vs 14 [50%] of 28, respectively; p = 0.018). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, when the authors adjusted for the child's ETV success score, the presence of 2 abnormalities remained independently associated with poor outcome (2 or more echocardiogram abnormalities, OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.01-0.7, p = 0.032; ETV success score, OR 1.1, 95% CI 1-1.2, p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS In this study, cardiac abnormalities were inversely associated with the success of ETV/CPC in infants with hydrocephalus of prematurity. ETV/CPC might not be as efficacious in patients with significant cardiac anomalies. These results provide a basis for future efforts to stratify surgical candidacy for ETV/CPC on the basis of comorbid abnormalities. Proper cardiac physiological pressure monitoring might help elucidate the relationship between cardiac abnormalities and hydrocephalus.