Intraventricular drain

Any catheter placed in one of the brain's lateral ventricles to drain cerebrospinal fluid. The fluid may be diverted to a collection system outside the body (a temporary external ventricular drain) or it may consist of a permanently implanted catheter that is tunneled subcutaneously from the ventricle where it ends and drains CSF into the peritoneal or pleural cavities (a ventriculoperitoneal or ventriculopleural shunt).