Shunt failure caused by valve collapse.

Shunt failure due to collapse of the Mini-Holter valve was observed 13 times in 11 out of 179 children with an implanted Mini-Holter ventriculo-peritoneal (VP) or ventriculo-atrial (VA) shunt during a 10 year period. Intussusception of the proximal or distal end of the valve thus caused a shunt failure rate of 6% of the children in this series. Two children experienced this complication twice. All collapsed valves were part of a VP shunt system. Because of this experience use of the mini valve was abandoned and an adult Holter valve was implanted in children over the age of one month. Breakdown of this particular valve has not occurred in 102 children and two hundred adults with the adult Holter shunt system.