Lumbo-peritoneal shunt as treatment modality for visual symptoms in idiopathic intracranial hypertension: A single...

To evaluate the efficacy of lumbo-peritoneal shunt (LPS) in patients of idiopathic intracranial hypertension presenting with visual symptoms.

Between Apr. 2014 and Mar. 2018, 70 patients of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension (IIH) underwent treatment at our institution. Patients were evaluated for neurological and ophthalmological status and were subjected to LPS depending on their symptoms.

Mean opening pressure was 29.97±5.33cm of water and mean Body-Mass Index (BMI) was 26.51±3 and the two were significantly correlated (p-value 0.006). All patients with visual symptoms (23) underwent LPS and others (47) were managed medically. All patients with LPS and 25 of medically managed patients improved, while 22 medically-managed patients required LPS due to deterioration in visual symptomatology. The proportion of patients showing complete resolution of features of IIH was significantly different between the three groups. Of the 7 patients with shunt extrusion/migration, only 2 required revision.

LPS is an equally effective and more technically familiar modality for treatment of IIH for neurosurgeons and should be offered to asymptomatic patients with objective visual signs. Shunt extrusion/migration may not always warrant revision due to "mini-shunt" that drains Cerebro-Spinal Fluid (CSF) through shunt tract even after extrusion.