Cerebrospinal fluid shunt infections.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) shunt infection is one of the most frequent and disabling complications. We reviewed the records of 306 patients who underwent CSF shunt surgery from 1983 through 1992. Six hundred and twelve procedures were performed in these 306 patients. Infection occurred following 46 of the procedures for an infection rate of 7.5% per procedure. The 46 infections involved 39 patients. There were 8 recurrent infections. The infection rate per child was 12.7%. Staphylococcal species were isolated in 50% of all infections. Patients younger than 1 year old and children with multiple revisions have a greater risk of infection than those of older. Myelomeningocele and meningitis had higher infection rate among other etiologies. Patients with multiple revisions had higher infection rate than those with single revision or none. The incidence of infection was higher in cyst-peritoneal shunts than both ventriculo-atrial and ventriculo-peritoneal shunts. Mortality was high in Gram negative infections.