Shunting procedures in the management of intracranial cerebrospinal fluid cysts in infancy and childhood.

Widely diverging opinions on the optimal therapy for intracranial cerebrospinal fluid cysts (CSF), mainly arachnoid cysts and the Dandy-Walker cysts, exist. Excision of the cyst walls in the treatment of the Dandy-Walker cyst has been replaced by shunting procedures, but the recommended method for primary treatment of arachnoid cysts in childhood is still cyst wall excision. Membrane excision is, however, often complicated by recurrence, subsequently requiring shunting-procedures. In a series of 19 cases primary shunting of intracranial CSF cysts proved to be a reliable method. In those cases where hydrocephalus (ventricular dilatation) is present at the time of the primary operation the ventricles should be shunted as well as the cyst. The catheter from the ventricle and that from the cyst should be connected to the same valve, otherwise an increased risk of intracranial herniation exists. The prognosis for infants and children suffering from intracranial CSF cysts is in general good; in 17 out of 19 cases mental development was normal and in 15 out of 19 motor development was normal. The risk of permanent motor damage seems to be particularly high when an arachnoid cyst is located on the quadrigeminal plate.