QUANTITATIVE SPECT CISTERNOGRAPHY IN NORMAL-PRESSURE HYDROCEPHALUS

Twenty-one patients with normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH), 8 patien ts with various brain diseases with an element of hydrocephalus, and 7 patients with miscellaneous dementia disorders were investigated with quantitative radionuclide cisternography (RC) using single photon emi ssion computerized tomography (SPECT). The total intracranial counts a s well as the counts in the lateral and third ventricles were measured . All 15 NPH patients accessible for postoperative examination were im proved after shunt surgery. In all groups the ventricular and total in tracranial counts level increased during the measurement period but re mained constant in distribution in each group. The NPH patients had a higher relative count value in the lateral and third ventricles compar ed to the patients with miscellaneous dementia disorders. The relative values in the third and lateral ventricles were predictive for the ou tcome of shunt surgery. Quantitative SPECT RC appears to be a useful d iagnostic procedure in NPH investigations.