Predictive value of quantitative cisternography in normal pressure hydrocephalus.
Twenty-five patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH) and 16 patients with cerebral atrophy were investigated by quantitative cisternography using anterior images of the head 3, 6 and 24 h after a lumbar injection of 200 MBq 99mTc DTPA (diethylene-triamine-penta-acetic acid). The activity in the lateral ventricles, basal cisterns, hemispheric convexities and total intracranial region was measured. Ratios between these regions/quantities were calculated. Fifteen of the NPH patients improved while 10 were unchanged after ventriculo-peritoneal shunt surgery. The ratio between ventricular and total intracranial activity (V/T) correlated positively with the degree of improvement after shunt surgery. All NPH patients with a V/T ratio higher than 32% improved after the operation but a V/T ratio less than 32% did not exclude the possibility of improvement. With regard to quantitative measurements, the radionuclide cisternography procedure can be reduced to imaging at 24 h.
Department of Neurology, Sahlgren Hospital, Sweden.
A
A
Larsson
M
M
Moonen
A C
AC
Bergh
S
S
Lindberg
C
C
Wikkelsö
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts; D006801:Humans; D006849:Hydrocephalus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006850:Hydrocephalus, Normal Pressure / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000601:surgery; D008875:Middle Aged; D009192:Myelography; D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D016284:Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate
D015609:Organotechnetium Compounds; D004369:Pentetic Acid; D016284:Technetium Tc 99m Pentetate