[Acid-base balance in the cerebrospinal fluid of normal subjects. Comparison of cisternal and lumbar CSF (author's transl)].

1. An investigation was carried out on 40 normal subjects of the acid-base balance in arterialized capillary blood and in the CSF (17 cisternal and 23 lumbar samples). The pH value was 7.324 in the cisternal CSF and 7.317 in the lumbar CSF, giving a difference of 0.007. The respective pCO2 values were 45.0 mm Hg and 45.9 mm Hg. The HCO3-minus value was 21.8 mMol/l, both in the cisternal and the lumbar CSF. 2. A comparison of the cisternal and lumbar CSF samples by means of the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test did not show any significant differences. 3. Neither of the groups showed a statistically significant dependence on age or sex. 4. Comparative studies by several authors of the acid-base balance in the cisternal and lumbar CSF are mentioned and discussed with reference to the present results.