BRAIN-STEM TETHERING IN DANDY-WALKER SYNDROME - A COMPLICATION OF CYSTOPERITONEAL SHUNTING - CASE-REPORT

Treatment of the Dandy-Walker syndrome has included placement of a ven triculoperitoneal shunt alone or in combination with a posterior fossa cystoperitoneal shunt. Complications in shunting are common and are u sually related to malfunction or infection. The authors present a case in which the patient developed headaches and focal cranial nerve defi cits following infection caused by a cystoperitoneal shunt. Magnetic r esonance imaging showed tethering of the brainstem. A posterior fossa craniotomy with microsurgical untethering and cyst fenestration achiev ed two goals: improvement of the focal cranial nerve deficits and elim ination of the cystoperitoneal shunt.