Non-ionic water soluble contrast medium 3-deoxy-3-iodo-D-glucose (DIG) for use in the CSF space. An experimental study with mongrel and beagle dogs.

A non-ionic water soluble contrast medium, 3-Deoxy-3-Iodo-D-Glucose (DIG), was experimentally evaluated for use in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) space, and compared with other contrast media. Two ml (180 mgI/ml) of DIG were injected either intraventricularly or intracisternally in 15 adult mongrel dogs (average weight: 6.4 kg), and X-ray photographic, CSF, EEG, and histological studies were then performed. Additional tests were made on four beagle dogs (average weight: 9.8 kg), focussing particularly on changes in cell count and protein in the CSF following alternate intracisternal injections of 2 ml (170 mgI/ml) of DIG and metrizamide (Amipaque), and on epileptogenicity following intracisternal injection of 3 ml (300 mgI/ml) of DIG. That DIG provides adequate definition was demonstrated both by the ventriculograms and cisternograms, and by comparison with metrizamide. Neither epileptic discharges in the EEG nor epileptic symptoms were seen in any of the dogs used in the studies. In the CSF drawn 24 hours after the injection, protein tended to increase moderately with DIG, but pleocytosis was mild with both media. Histological studies of the central nervous system structures around the cisterna magna revealed no definite abnormal findings. Neither fibrosis nor arachnoid adhesions were seen in scanning electron microscopic observations of the basal subarachnoid spaces.