The collapsed ventricle: management and prevention.

Acute obstruction of a shunt may occur when the ventricular space becomes slitlike. Four patients with collapsed ventricles were treated by adding a higher pressure valve to the system. The ventricles enlarged and the patients became asymptomatic. Twelve children who had been shunted in the neonatal period had a higher pressure valve added as an elective procedure to prevent ventricular collapse. There were no episodes of shunt obstruction in the subsequent seven to 38 months.