Endoscopic third ventriculostomy in children with a fiber optic neuroendoscopy

Endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) provides a shunt-free treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus children. With rapidly evolving technology, the semi-rigid fiber optic neuroendoscopy shows a potential application in ETV by blunt fenestration. A retrospective analysis of our experience is reviewed.

The authors review infants and children who underwent ETV using this technique from June 2004 to June 2016 with radiological and clinical follow-up done by a single surgeon. Patients who underwent ETV with channel scope were excluded. Demographic variables and operative reports were collected. Improvement of preoperative symptoms and avoidance of additional cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) diversion procedures were considered a success. The ETV success score (ETVSS) was used to correlate with clinical outcomes.

A total of 79 patients were included with a mean age of 8.3 ± 5.5 years, and 40.5% were female. The mean clinical and radiographic follow-up was 38.6 ± 40.9 months. The overall complication rate was 6.3%, while 73.4% were considered successful. The ETV failure cases received conversion to ventriculoperitoneal shunt or redo of ETV with a median time of 2 months. The mean ETV success score was 74.3 ± 11.8 with positive correlation between success rate (P < 0.05). Kaplan-Meier failure-free survival rates of 30-day, 90-day, 6-month, 1-year, and 2-year were 89.9, 83.5, 78.5, 75.9, and 74.6%. Eight patients required redo ETV, and five of these patients required eventual shunt placements. Approximately 61.9% of failure occurred within 3 months. Patients with post-intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) /infection, and age younger than 12 months had the poorest outcome (P < 0.05).

Blunt dissection of the third ventricle floor under endoscopic vision with the stylet tip of a fiber optic neuroendoscopy is safe and requires less equipment in the pediatric population. This technique is successful with an optimistic long-term outcome except for infants and the post-IVH and infectious subgroups.