Eosinophilia of the cerebrospinal fluid: late reaction to a silastic shunt.

The differential diagnosis of CSF eosinophilia consists primarily of infection, infestation or malignancy. This report describes an eight-year-old patient with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt who presented with a two-year history of episodic headache and vomiting and persistent tenderness of the skin overlying the bulb of the shunt. Ventricular CSF showed persisting eosinophilia, but there was no evidence of infection or malignancy. All abnormalities resolved promptly after the shunt was replaced.