Arne Torkildsen and the ventriculocisternal shunt: the first clinically successful shunt for hydrocephalus

Abstract

Arne Torkildsen was a pioneering Norwegian neurosurgeon who introduced the ventriculocisternal shunt, the first clinically successful shunt for CSF diversion in hydrocephalus. The procedure, usually referred to as ventriculocisternostomy (VCS), Torkildsen’s operation, orTorkildsen’s shunt, became internationally recognized as an efficient operation for the treatment of noncommunicating hydrocephalus. The operation gained widespread use in the 1940s and 1950s before the introduction of extracranial shunts. In this paper, the authors look more closely at Torkildsen’s development of the VCS and examine how this surgical approach differed from other procedures for treating hydrocephalus before World War II. Long-term results of the VCS are presented.