Cerebrospinal fluid dynamics in patients with pseudotumor cerebri.

CSF dynamics were determined as a function of intracranial pressure in patients with pseudotumor cerebri. Servocontrolled variable rate lumbar infusions were used to determine net CSF-absorptive capacities and resting pressures in 10 patients; serial studies were done in 5 of the patients. Nearly all of the patients had abnormally low CSF-absorptive capacities. On the other hand, marked elevations in resting pressure were not a constant feature of the disease. Concurrent changes in the cerebrovascular bed could introduce errors into this manometric determination of CSF dynamics; the significance of this potential artifact is examined. The results of this study suggest that the CSF compartment may be of etiological importance in the pathophysiology of pseudotumor cerebri.