Shunt-associated infection and shunt nephritis in children

Shunt-associated infection (SAI) is a symptom-complex associated with chronically infected shunt, set for liquor dynamics disorders treatment. Among the potential pathogens are Staphylococcus epidermidis (70-80%) and Acinetobacter baumannii (60-70%), which can form a biofilm on liquor-drainage shunts surface. SAI clinical manifestations are diverse. Shunt nephritis (SN) is the most significant manifestation of SAI. SN treatment is to remove the infected shunt and conduct therapy in accordance with the pathogen type. Besides, the question of need for immunosuppressive therapy is ambiguous. After this treatment, in 50% of cases, patients' condition improved, but 6-19% of patients had terminal renal failure. Presented clinical cases demonstrate the difficulty of SAI diagnosing in children due to the variety and ambiguity of pathological process clinical manifestations and with varying degrees of renal syndrome. © 2017, Pediatria Ltd. All Rights Reserved.