Imaging diagnosis--Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt associated infection in a dog

Ventriculo-peritoneal shunting is a surgical treatment for hydrocephalus. Complications of this procedure are not well described in dogs. The most common complication in humans is infection, which can be fatal if not diagnosed and treated quickly. We describe the magnetic resonance (MR) imaging characteristics of a shunt-associated cerebral infection in a dog. The MR features of the infection included hyperintensity of the lining of the ventricular system visible on a T2-weighted FLAIR sequence and marked linear contrast enhancement of the ependymal layer on T1-weighted sequences, similar to that described in people.