Treatment of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea by percutaneous lumboperitoneal shunting: review of 15 cases.

Fifteen patients with recalcitrant cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fistula underwent the insertion of a lumboperitoneal shunt. The shunt consists of a two-piece Silastic tube and has been used in a population of 150 patients with communicating hydrocephalus, persistent postoperative meningocele, and benign intracranial hypertension. The spinal catheter is introduced subcutaneously and no flushing device is used. We studied three groups: 9 patients had a history of head trauma, and 7 of these had undergone one or several ineffective direct approaches to the dural leak. Four patients presented with a presumably congenital fistula. Two patients had persistent rhinorrhea due to previous intracranial procedures. Indium-111 cisternography was performed in 10 patients before lumboperitonel (LP) shunting and failed in 2 of those to document the site of leakage. Twelve patients showed cessation of rhinorrhea after LP shunting. In 4 of these, shunt-related complications responded to shunt removal with no further recurrence of rhinorrhea. Two patients underwent revision of the shunt. In 3 patients, the LP shunt failed to control the CSF leak and further intracranial procedures were indicated. The LP shunt provides an attractive and technically simple solution when direct methods of treatment have failed. Additionally, LP shunting should be considered as a primary mode of treatment in elderly patients or when impairment of CSF dynamics is documented by radionuclide cisternography and computed tomographic scanning. When an LP shunt is ineffective, shunt function should be checked by isotopic studies before additional surgery is performed.