PubMed · 6193255
Cerebrospinal fluid myelin basic protein in hydrocephalus.
Abstract
Immunoreactive myelin basic protein (MBP) levels were measured in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples taken from 57 patients with active hydrocephalus (age range 3 weeks to 60 years). Of these patients, 28 (49%) had elevated MBP values (greater than 4.5 ng/ml). Elevated MBP levels were found in 44% of patients with congenital hydrocephalus, 75% of patients with posttraumatic hydrocephalus, 80% of patients with normal-pressure hydrocephalus, and 83% of patients with porencephaly. Also associated with abnormal MBP levels was the ventricular size as measured by computerized tomography scanning (chi 2: p less than 0.05): 36% of the patients with small ventricles (ventricle:brain ratio 0 to 0.4:1) had elevated MBP in the CSF, whereas 61% of those with moderate ventricles (0.41 to 0.6:1 ratio) and 100% of those with large ventricles (0.61 to 0.85:1 ratio) had abnormal values. Only 33% of those with maximal hydrocephalus (0.86 to 1.0:1 ratio) had elevated MBP levels, perhaps because of dilution effects. In three patients in whom CSF was obtained simultaneously by ventricular and lumbar punctures, the ventricular fluid had a consistently higher concentration of MBP, suggesting a cerebral origin. It is concluded that active hydrocephalus produces significant periventricular demyelination, probably as the result of mechanical stretching.
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L N Sutton, J H Wood, B R Brooks, S J Barrer, M Kline, S R Cohen. 1983. Cerebrospinal fluid myelin basic protein in hydrocephalus.. https://doi.org/10.3171/jns.1983.59.3.0467
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