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OBJECTIVE: Intracranial pressure (ICP), outflow resistance (Rout), and amplitude of cardiac-related ICP pulsations (AMPs) are established parameters to describe the CSF hydrodynamic system and are assumed, but not confirmed, to be disturbed in idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH). The aim of this study was to compare the CSF hydrodynamic profile between patients with INPH and healthy volunteers.

METHODS: Sixty-two consecutive INPH patients (mean age 74 years) and 40 healthy volunteers (mean age 70 years) were included. Diagnosis was made by two independent neurologists who assessed patients’ history, neurological status, and MRI studies. A CSF dynamic investigation through the lumbar route was performed: ICP and other CSF dynamic variables were blinded to the neurologists during the diagnostic process and were not used for establishing the diagnosis of INPH.

RESULTS: Rout was significantly higher in INPH (Rout 17.1 vs 11.1; p < 0.001), though a substantial number of INPH subjects had normal Rout. There were no differences between INPH patients and controls regarding ICP (mean 11.5 mm Hg). At resting pressure, there was a trend that AMP in INPH was increased (2.4 vs 2.0 mm Hg; p = 0.109). The relationship between AMP and ICP was that they shared the same slope, but the curve was significantly shifted to the left for INPH (reduced P0 [p < 0.05]; i.e., higher AMP for the same ICP).

CONCLUSIONS: This study established that the CSF dynamic profile of INPH deviates from that of healthy volunteers and that INPH should thus be regarded as a disease in which intracranial hydrodynamics are part of the pathophysiology.

Clinical trial registration no.: NCT01188382 (clinicaltrials.gov)

Objectives: Increased aqueduct cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow pulsatility and, recently, a reversed CSF flow in the aqueduct have been suggested as hallmarks of idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH). However, these findings have not been adequately confirmed. Our objective was to investigate the flow of blood and CSF in INPH, as compared to healthy elderly, in order to clarify which flow parameters are related to the INPH pathophysiology.

Materials and Methods: Sixteen INPH patients (73 years) and 35 healthy subjects (72 years) underwent phase-contrast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Measurements included aqueduct and cervical CSF flow, total arterial inflow (tCBF; i.e. carotid + vertebral arteries), and internal jugular vein flow. Flow pulsatility, net flow, and flow delays were compared (multiple linear regression, correcting for sex and age).

Results: Aqueduct stroke volume was higher in INPH than healthy (148±95 vs 90±50 mL, P<.05). Net aqueduct CSF flow was similar in magnitude and direction. The cervical CSF stroke volume was lower (P<.05). The internal carotid artery net flow was lower in INPH (P<.05), although tCBF was not. No differences were found in internal jugular vein flow or flow delays.

Conclusions: The typical flow of blood and CSF in INPH was mainly characterized by increased CSF pulsatility in the aqueduct and reduced cervical CSF pulsatility. The direction of mean net aqueduct CSF flow was from the third to the fourth ventricle. Our findings may reflect the altered distribution of intracranial CSF volume in INPH, although the causality of these relationships is unclear.

Nuclear centralisation and internalisation, sarcoplasmic radiating strands and type 1 muscle fibre predominance and hypotrophy characterise dynamin-2 (DNM2) associated centronuclear myopathy, whereas necklace fibres are typically seen in late onset myotubularin-1 (MTM1)-related myopathy. We report a woman with unilateral symptoms probably related to brachial plexus neuritis. Electromyography revealed localised neuropathic and generalised myopathic abnormalities. The typical features of DNM2 centronuclear myopathy with additional necklace fibres were found in the muscle biopsy. Sequencing of the DNM2 and MTM1 genes revealed a novel heterozygous missense mutation in exon 18 of the DNM2, leading to replacement of highly conserved proline at position 647 by arginine. The muscle symptoms have not progressed during the 3-year follow-up. However, the patient has developed bilateral subtle lens opacities. Our findings support the concept that necklace fibres may occasionally be found in DNM2-related myopathy, possibly indicating a common pathogenic mechanism in DNM2 and MTM1 associated centronuclear myopathy.

This study reports reference values for ICP and R(out) and should be used for comparison when investigating disorders with suspected CSF dynamic disturbances in the elderly. ICP was in the same range as that reported in the young and middle-aged. The upper limit of R(out) was higher than previously believed to be the upper limit of normal for this age group.

Mutations in CuZn-superoxide dismutase (SOD1) cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and are found in 6% of ALS patients. Non-native and aggregation-prone forms of mutant SOD1s are thought to trigger the disease. Two sets of novel antibodies, raised in rabbits and chicken, against peptides spaced along the human SOD1 sequence, were by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and an immunocapture method shown to be specific for denatured SOD1. These were used to examine SOD1 in spinal cords of ALS patients lacking mutations in the enzyme. Small granular SOD1-immunoreactive inclusions were found in spinal motoneurons of all 37 sporadic and familial ALS patients studied, but only sparsely in 3 of 28 neurodegenerative and 2 of 19 non-neurological control patients. The granular inclusions were by confocal microscopy found to partly colocalize with markers for lysosomes but not with inclusions containing TAR DNA binding protein-43, ubiquitin or markers for endoplasmic reticulum, autophagosomes or mitochondria. Granular inclusions were also found in carriers of SOD1 mutations and in spinobulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA) patients and they were the major type of inclusion detected in ALS patients homozygous for the wild type-like D90A mutation. The findings suggest that SOD1 may be involved in ALS pathogenesis in patients lacking mutations in the enzyme.

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH) is linked to disturbance of the CSF circulation, though the exact nature of the disturbance is not clarified. Phase contrast magnetic resonance imaging (PC-MRI) allows for measurement of local CSF and blood flows, and has been applied in hydrocephalus to demonstrate changes in both cerebral blood flow and aqueduct CSF flow. Many of these studies have, however been based on small numbers of subjects, or poorly defined selection criteria. This study therefore aimed to confirm if cerebral blood flow and CSF flow between compartments differed between INPH subjects and healthy elderly.

Forty-three healthy elderly and 22 patients diagnosed with INPH according to the INPH guidelines were investigated with PC-MRI measurements of cerebral arterial inflow (CBF) and internal jugular venous outflow, cervical CSF flow, and aqueduct CSF flow. Both net flows, pulsatile aspects of flow, and delays between flow waveforms were analysed.

Pulsatility in the aqueduct flow was significantly higher in INPH than healthy elderly (aqueduct stroke volume: 189±184 vs. 86±46 ml, p<0.01). There was larger variation in aqueduct net flow in INPH (SD: 1.31 vs. 0.25 ml/min), but the mean net flow did not differ. Cerebral blood flow and internal jugular vein flow showed no significant differences between the groups, though there was a trend toward lower CBF in the diastolic phase and higher CBF pulsatility index. No differences were found in flow delays.

In conclusion, cerebral in- and outflow of blood, and cervical CSF flow were similar in healthy elderly and INPH subjects. Aqueduct flow showed higher pulsatility in INPH, but there was no general reversal of the direction of aqueduct net flow.