Xenon CT measurement of cerebral blood flow in hydrocephalus.

Since the recognition of normal-pressure hydrocephalus as an entity (1965), ventriculo-atrial or peritoneal shunting has been proposed as a treatment for this disease. Unfortunately, selection of patients who would benefit from shunting has always been difficult, and no clinical or brain imaging criteria have been entirely satisfactory. Functional studies intended to measure the local cerebral blood flow (lCBF) seem more promising. Xenon CT CBF measurement has been chosen because of its ability to measure deep white matter lCBF with good spatial resolution. This preliminary study reports the results of lCBF measurement in four patients examined by this technique before and after shunting or cerebrospinal fluid subtraction by lumbar puncture. In this small collective the two patients who improved clinically after shunting or lumbar puncture also had a substantial improvement in deep white matter lCBF.