[Changes in cerebrospinal fluid findings with glucocorticoid therapy].

The quality and quantity of the cell and albumin findings in the cerebrospinal fluid taken from 50 patients suffering from an acute onset of an encephalomyelitis disseminata and from 30 patients with vertebrogenic diseases were compared between the two groups before and after glucocorticoid therapy. In the vertebrogenic cases the symptoms did not show any fundamental changes in the composition of the fluid. In the encephalomyelitis disseminata cases a tendency to levelling was observed after this treatment together with decreasing cell numbers and a recession of the relative lymphocytosis which was very marked beforehand. This was interpreted as the result of the unspecific and immunosuppressive effect of the glucocorticoid. Although under the given dosage the intensity of the immune reaction in the fluid remains uninfluenced with regard to plasma cells and an increase in gammaglobulin--a causal therapeutic effect cannot be shown--however, because of the results with regard to the condition of the fluid after the glucocorticoid it is useful for the control of therapy.