ventriculoureterostomy /ventrik′yəlō′yo͝orē′təros″təmē/ [L, ventriculus + Gk, oureter, ureter, stoma, mouth] , a surgical procedure for directing cerebrospinal fluid into the general circulation. It is performed in the treatment of hydrocephalus, usually in the newborn. In this procedure a polyethylene tube is passed from the lateral ventricle down the dorsal spine subcutaneously to the twelfth rib; the tube is inserted through the paraspinal muscles into a ureter. Rarely used, the method is an alternative to auriculoventriculostomy, especially if the obstruction to cerebrospinal fluid includes the basilar and cerebral subarachnoid spaces, the posterior fossa, and the spinal subarachnoid spaces. The procedure is performed to correct an obstructive type of hydrocephalus.
