1. Spectrophotometry of cerebrospinal fluid in suspected subarachnoid haemorrhage
- Author
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Ian Holbrook, Philip Wenham, Anne Cruickshank, William Egner, Ian Watson, Geoffrey Keir, Robert Beetham, and Peter D White
- Subjects
Adult ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Clinical Review ,Subarachnoid hemorrhage ,Spinal Puncture ,Aneurysm ,Cerebrospinal fluid ,Medicine ,Humans ,General Environmental Science ,Diplopia ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,business.industry ,Lumbar puncture ,General Engineering ,General Medicine ,Middle Aged ,Subarachnoid Hemorrhage ,medicine.disease ,Surgery ,Spectrophotometry ,Anesthesia ,Vomiting ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Female ,medicine.symptom ,business ,Tomography, X-Ray Computed ,Cerebral angiography - Abstract
To underline the importance of correctly examining cerebrospinal fluid, we describe two patients with subarachnoid haemorrhage for whom cranial computerised tomography was normal and on whom lumbar puncture was subsequently done. Both had clear and colourless cerebrospinal fluid, but subsequent spectrophotometry showed bilirubin. Cerebral angiography then showed a ruptured aneurysm in each patient. Case 1 A 28 year old woman presented with nausea and diplopia. She had global headache which had awoken her 14 days before. This was associated with neck pain and stiffness, vomiting for two days, and photophobia for five to six days. On examination, severe bilateral papilloedema, and signs of a VIth nerve palsy were present. Cranial computerised …
- Published
- 2005