[Cerebrospinal fluid hypotension after brain surgery].

A severe complication, c. s. f. hypotension ( CSFH ), developed in 9 patients after intracranial manipulations for meningioma (4), intracranial aneurysm (3), and subdural hematoma (2). It occurred on the second or third postoperative day and was characterized by rapid development of general cerebral disorders (even to deep loss of consciousness) and aggravation of focal disorders. An important role in the differential diagnosis of the hypotensive and the hypertensive syndromes is attached to lumbar puncture which in cases of CSFH reveals very low c. s. f. pressure or none at all. Effective therapy for the disease includes subarachnoid infusion of up to 50-80 ml of physiological solution through a lumbar puncture and daily intravenous infusions of fluio (2 500-3 000 ml).