[Large abdominal pseudocyst as a complication of ventriculoperitoneal shunt--diagnosis by ultrasonography and whole body CT scan (author's transl)].

We report a case in which a large abdominal pseudocyst developed following a ventriculo-peritoneal shunt (V-P shunt) for hydrocephalus due to pineal germinoma. A 24-year-old man had undergone a V-P shunt and radiotheraphy for unbiopsied posterior third ventricle tumor. Four years after operation he was readmitted because of double vision, conjugate upward gaze palsy and a large abdominal mass. Preoperative diagnosis of abdominal pseudocyst was made by abdominal computed tomography and ultrasonotomography. The shunt tube was clearly deomonstrated in the cavity by computed tomography. It is suggested that, in a patient suspicious of having abdominal pseudocyst who developed abdominal symptoms and signs following V-P shunt, abdominal computed tomography and/or ultrasonotomography provide a definitive diagnosis of this entity.