Findings associated with ventriculoperitoneal shunt infection:
(1) presence of fever (body temperature >= 38°C) associated with current condition
(2)presence of seizures associated with current condition
(3) serum C-reactive protein (CRP) > 10 mg/dL
(4) CSF glucose < 40 mg/dL
(5) CSF protein > 50 mg/dL
(6) percent CSF neutrophils > 10%
(7) CSF white blood cell (WBC) count > 100 per µL
These findings have relatively high specificity but sensitivities are mostly in the 40-60% range (except percent CSF neutrophils at 90% and CSF protein at 80%). This means that there is a high predictive value for excluding the diagnosis with a negative test, but relatively limited low predictive value for a positive test.
Factors associated with shunt malfunction:
(1) high percent of eosinophils in the CSF count (>= 9%)
Limitations:
• The method and reference range for the serum CRP was not provided.
