AJR. American journal of roentgenology
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Jul 2003
Cerebrospinal fluid leakage after lumbar puncture in neonates: incidence and sonographic appearance.
The purpose of this article is to review the incidence and sonographic appearance of cerebrospinal fluid leakage after lumbar puncture in the neonatal period. Thirty-three neonates underwent spinal sonography after diagnostic lumbar puncture. A total of 21 of these patients showed cerebrospinal fluid leakage into the epidural space extending from the level of the cauda equina to the lumbar (n = 9), the thoracic (n = 8), or the cervical (n = 4) region. In eight patients, the subarachnoid space was markedly compressed by the epidural fluid collection. ⋯ Cerebrospinal fluid leakage into the epidural space is a frequent complication of lumbar puncture in neonates and has a characteristic appearance on sonograms. Leakage after lumbar puncture must be differentiated from cerebrospinal fluid leakage due to perinatal meningeal injury. If cerebrospinal fluid leakage at the puncture site compresses the subarachnoid space, sonography assists in the performance of subsequent lumbar puncture.
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AJR Am J Roentgenol · Jul 2003
Standardization of flow velocities with respect to age and sex improves the accuracy of transcranial color Doppler sonography of middle cerebral artery spasm.
The overall accuracy of transcranial Doppler sonography in the diagnosis of middle cerebral artery spasm has not been established. Moreover, the factors of age and sex have not been addressed in most studies. In this article, we present receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis of the accuracy of transcranial color Doppler sonography in diagnosing middle cerebral artery spasm on the basis of flow velocities standardized for age and sex. SUBJECTS AND METHODS. We prospectively studied 214 consecutive patients (110 male, 104 female; age range, 12-77 years) who were routinely referred for cerebral angiography. Middle cerebral artery spasm was graded as mild ( 25% reduction). Angle-corrected blood velocity measurements were obtained using a 2.5-MHz probe. The velocity values were reexpressed as a percentage of the mean of normal reference values for the relevant age, for subjects younger than 40 years, and for sex. ⋯ The accuracy of transcranial color Doppler sonography is high in the identification of middle cerebral artery spasm. Standardization of velocities with respect to age and sex increases the accuracy of the method in diagnosing mild middle cerebral artery spasms.