Resistance to outflow of cerebrospinal fluid determined by bolus injection technique and constant rate steady state infusion in humans.

Two methods for the determination of resistance to the outflow of cerebrospinal fluid, the bolus injection technique and the constant rate steady state infusion technique, were compared. Thirty-two patients with a variety of intracranial diseases (usually communicating hydrocephalus) were studied. There was a high degree of correlation between the resistance values obtained with the two methods, but values based on the bolus injection technique were systematically and statistically significantly lower than those obtained with the constant rate infusion test. From a practical point of view, both methods were found to be applicable in a clinical setting.