Quantitative radio-isotope cisternography for the investigation of CSF circulation in the posterior fossa and basal cisterns--a preliminary report.

In the absence of hydrocephalus there is an inclination to overlook enlargement of CSF spaces. In theory such enlargement might be the pathological basis for unexplained diseases seemingly related to disorders in CSF dynamics. By using Indium-111-DTPA in scinti-cisternography for 66 hours an attempt was made to identify such disorders by quantification of CSF circulation in the posterior fossa. The experimental data were fitted by means of two successive least square logarithmic regression analyses in order to make possible differentiation between "known" CSF disturbances and "external hydrocephalus". Theoretically, a biexponential curve would be expected. If therefore a monoexponential "best fit" is found, disturbances of CSF circulation may be taken to be present. For a definition of the features of normality in the case of a biexponential curve, however, further data on normal volunteers are needed.