Percutaneous ventriculocisternal shunt. Technical note.

A modification of the Torkildsen ventriculocisternal shunting procedure, used successfully in a patient with bilateral obstruction of the foramina of Monro, is described. Through bilateral occipital burr holes, a "U-tube" system interconnected the two lateral ventricles. Spinal fluid was then drained with a separate Spetzler catheter passed from one lateral ventricle into the cisterna magna. A posterior percutaneous insertion technique (standard puncture of the cisterna magna) was used to place the catheter into this subarachnoid space.