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Abstract Hydrocephalus is regarded as an imbalance of CSF formation and absorption of sufficient magnitude to produce a net accumulation of fluid within the cerebral ventricles. Several therapuetic modalities were employed to treat hydrocephalus ranging from medical therapy, choroid plexectomy, third ventriculastomy to shunt operations. The principle of shunting CSF was first practiced by Torkildsen, who was able to develop the ventriculocisternostomy, then a variety of extracranial drainage sites were tried including the ureter, the pleural cavity, the right atrium and the peritoneal cavity. When unidirectional pressure-responsive values were inovated, a new era of modern shunts began .. . Of all potentential complications associated with shunting procedures, infection is the most notorious, occurring in 2 to 10 per cent of operated cases. No entity accounts for more mortality and morbidity among patients with CSF shunts than infection. Death, intellectual and neurological deficits, and astronomical costs in terms of health care funds and human suffering are the usual sequelae. , CSF shunt infection has been the subject of extensive study. Perhaps the reason for all this study is that the patient population mostly comprises children and adolescents whose lives, families, and capabilities are severely affected. A number of underlying conditions are associated with increased infection rate including patients age below 6 months old at the time of insertion, presence ’of intercurrent seats of infection, poor condition of the skin, and presence of postoperative wound dehiscence and scalp necrosis. Up to 69% of shunt infections occur within 1 month after surgery, and up to 86% of infections present within 6 months. Therefore, many authors think that when shunt infections occur organisms . |