Intra-abdominal metastasis of an intracranial germinoma via ventriculo-peritoneal shunt in a 13-year-old female

Abstract

A 13-year-old patient presented with massive intra-abdominal metastasis and spontaneous acute tumour lysis syndrome, 17-months after VP shunt placement for metastatic pineal germinoma treated with cranio-spinal-irradiation. Hyperhydration/rasburicase improved renal function, allowing chemotherapy with subsequent surgery. The patient remains event-free 34-months later. Risk of intra-abdominal metastasis from VP shunts is discussed.

Key words:

• Malignant germ cell tumour
• germinoma, intra-abdominal
• metastatic
• ventriculo-peritoneal shunt
• spontaneous tumour lysis syndrome

Acknowledgement

Mr Conor Mallucci, one of the manuscript authors, is Deputy Editor of the British Journal of Neurosurgery.

Declaration of interest:

The authors report no conflicts of interest. Mr Conor Mallucci, one of the manuscript authors, is Deputy Editor of the British Journal of Neurosurgery; however, the manuscript underwent full independent, external peer review. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.