EVALUATION OF THE CHANGES OF CEREBROSPINAL FLUID MOVEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH MENINGITIS: A CISTERNOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS

¹ Research Fellow, Department of Radiology.
² Associate Professor, Director, Laboratory for Radiological Research.

Meningitis causes inflammatory changes that alter cerebrospinal fluid absorption acutely. Healing with fibrosis can lead to localized or generalized obliteration of the cerebrospinal fluid space which can also end in an absorptive abnormality. The result in both instances may be hydrocephalus usually of the communicating type.

The cisternograms, cerebral angiograms, and pneumoencephalograms of a series of 10 postmeningitis patients were analyzed to characterize the findings, especially with regard to the CSF flow pattern as reflected by cisternography.

Eight patients had communicating hydrocephalus and 2 showed a normal CSF movement pattern. Of the 8 patients with communicating hydrocephalus, 4 had stasis of the radiopharmaceutical in the ventricular area from 24-48 hours after lumbar injection. This suggests that certain of these patients might benefit from a CSF diversionary shunt.

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