When Ventricular Cerebrospinal Fluid Assessment Misleads: Basal Meningitis and the Importance of Lumbar Puncture Sampling.

The diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) infection relies upon analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). We present 4 cases of CNS infections associated with basal meningitis and hydrocephalus with normal ventricular CSF but grossly abnormal lumbar CSF. We discuss CSF ventricular-lumbar composition gradients and putative pathophysiological mechanisms and highlight clinical clues for clinicians.

Severe hypotension related to high negative pressure suction drainage on a thoracic epidural drain during multilevel spinal fixation.

Hypotension or bradycardia or both related to intracranial hypotension after craniotomy has been reported in the literature. However, such reports are uncommon with thoracic epidural drains. We describe a case in which application of high negative pressure suction to a thoracic epidural drain caused a sudden decrease in arterial blood pressure.