Cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure measurements in acute headache patients and in patients with either chronic or no pain.

OBJECTIVE

To observe cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure (CSFOP) in different clinical settings and in patients with acute, chronic and no pain and to observe possible differences because of age and sex.

METHODS

In this prospective study, CSFOP was measured in lumbar puncture in three different settings of clinical investigations; patients with acute headache investigated for subarachnoidal haemorrhage (n = 222), patients with sciatica undergoing myelography (n = 61), and patients in an outpatient neurological clinic (n = 65).

RESULTS

The mean CSFOP in cm H(2)O was 17.3 for the myelography patients, 19.1 for the outpatients, 19.3 for the primary headache patients and 22.4 for the patients with secondary headache. Large proportions of patients in all groups had CSFOP above 20 cm H(2)O. The female patients in all groups had lower mean CSFOP than the male patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The CSFOP levels found in clinical practice among patients without intracranial lesions or infectious conditions were broader than expected. Measurement of CSFOP is of limited value as diagnostic procedure if not closely linked to clinical symptoms and finds.