[Electrolytes in the CSF of hydrocephalic patients (author's transl)]

The concentrations of Na+, K+, Cl-, Ca++, and Mg++ were measured in the CSF and serum of controls and in those of patients with hydrocephalus. Hydrocephalus was proved with pneumoencephalography. The amounts of Na+, K+, Ca++, and Mg++ were significantly higher in the CSF of patients with hydrocephalus than in the CSF of controls. The changes in the electrolyte concentration gradients seem to indicate that it is not the blood-brain barrier but the brain-CSF barrier which is disturbed in hydrocephalus.