Intraventricular

Intraventricular is a medical adjective describing something located within a ventricle. In anatomy and clinical medicine, ventricles most commonly refer to the cerebral ventricles of the brain, a cerebrospinal fluid–filled system comprising the two lateral ventricles, the third ventricle, and the fourth ventricle. The term can also apply to structures within the heart, namely the left or right ventricle.

In neurology, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) denotes bleeding into the ventricular system. IVH can accompany intraparenchymal hemorrhage, result from traumatic injury, aneurysm rupture, or prematurity in newborns. Bleeding can obstruct CSF pathways and cause hydrocephalus. Diagnosis is by CT or MRI; management focuses on treating the bleeding, monitoring intracranial pressure, and addressing hydrocephalus with external ventricular drainage or shunting as needed.

Therapeutic intraventricular administration involves delivering drugs directly into the ventricular system, typically via an implanted catheter or external ventricular drain, or an Ommaya reservoir. This route is used for certain chemotherapies, antibiotics for CNS infections, or management of leptomeningeal metastases, enabling higher local drug concentrations with reduced systemic exposure.

Infections within the ventricular system, such as ventriculitis, are evaluated with CSF analysis and imaging. Intraventricular antibiotics may be employed as part of treatment, often in combination with systemic therapy.

This term also appears in descriptions of intraventricular tumors or cysts, and in reference to procedures and devices that access the ventricular system.