Division of Neurosurgery, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois.
We believe that children beyond 5 years of age with stable ventriculomegaly can be monitored if their intellectual performance is within the normal range and stable. The child 3 years old or younger with moderate or greater ventriculomegaly should be shunted. Close follow-up with objective data is essential for all other children with compensated hydrocephalus, as well as for all children with a shunt.