VENTRICULOGRAPHY

Abstract

In 1918, Dandy¹suggested the injection of air into the ventricles and subarachnoid system of the brain and spinal cord as a means of defining their outlines on the roentgen-ray plate. While working on the problem of hydrocephalus it occurred to him that the most practical manner of determining the size of the ventricles and the point of obstruction to the free circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid would be to fill the ventricles with a medium which would cast a shadow on the roentgen-ray plate distinguishable from the shadow of the surrounding cranial bones. The ventricles could thus be outlined on the roentgenogram, defects in their configuration noted and the point of obstruction to the passage of the fluid discovered. Through his success in the diagnosis of hydrocephalus and the level of obstruction, Dandy had produced convincing evidence that the ventricular fluid might be safely replaced with air by