The central canal of the spinal cord in experimental hydrocephalus: preliminary results.

The central canal of the spinal cord in certain animal species has been shown to be an alternative pathway of cerebrospinal fluid flow in experimentally induced hydrocephalus. Enlargement and increased movement of cerebrospinal fluid in the central canal has been proposed as a compensatory mechanism in hydrocephalus in humans. The central canal of the spinal cord was normal in 5 dogs and 2 primates made hydrocephalic by a relatively atraumatic experimental model which simulates the human disorder to chronic communicating hydrocephalus. Dilatation of the central canal is apparently not an important compensatory alternative pathway.