Intracranial Perishunt Catheter Fluid Collections with Edema, a Sign of Shunt Malfunction: Correlation of CT/MRI and Nuclear Medicine Findings

Fluid collections with edema along the intracranial tract of ventriculoperitoneal shunt catheters in adults are rare and are more frequently seen in children. The imaging appearance of these fluid collections is frequently confusing and presents a diagnostic dilemma. We present 6 cases of adult patients noted to have collections with edema along the tract of ventriculoperitoneal shunt catheters. To our knowledge, there are no previous studies correlating the CT/MR imaging findings with nuclear medicine scans in this entity. We hypothesized that when seen in adults, the imaging findings of a CSF-like fluid collection around the intracranial ventriculoperitoneal shunt catheter on CT/MR imaging may suggest areas of CSF accumulation with interstitial edema. It is important to recognize this rare ventriculoperitoneal shunt complication in adults to prevent misdiagnosis of an abscess or cystic tumor.