Pneumoencephalography
Encyclopedia
Pneumoencephalography is a medical procedure
in which most of the cerebrospinal fluid
is drained from around the brain
and replaced with air, oxygen, or helium to allow the structure of the brain to show up more clearly on an X-ray
image. It is derived from ventriculography, an earlier and more primitive method where the air is injected through holes drilled in the skull.
The procedure was introduced in 1919 by the American neurosurgeon Walter Dandy
.
Pneumoencephalography was performed extensively throughout the early 20th century, but it was extremely painful. The test was generally not well tolerated by patients. Headaches and severe vomiting were common side effects. Replacement of the drained spinal fluid is by slow natural production, and therefore required recovery for as long as 2-3 months before normal fluid volumes were restored. Video of the procedure is documented in a BBC documentary of an early EMI installation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_R47LDdlZM.
Modern imaging techniques such as MRI and Computed tomography
have rendered pneumoencephalography obsolete. Today, pneumoencephalography is limited to the research field and is used under rare circumstances. A related procedure is pneumomyelography, where gas is used similarly to investigate the spinal canal
.
Pneumoencephalography appears in popular culture in the movie The Exorcist
(1973), when Linda Blair's Regan MacNeil character undergoes the procedure. It is also referred to in Episode 7, Season 7 of House M.D. as an example of a dangerous procedure.
Medical procedure
A medical procedure is a course of action intended to achieve a result in the care of persons with health problems.A medical procedure with the intention of determining, measuring or diagnosing a patient condition or parameter is also called a medical test...
in which most of the cerebrospinal fluid
Cerebrospinal fluid
Cerebrospinal fluid , Liquor cerebrospinalis, is a clear, colorless, bodily fluid, that occupies the subarachnoid space and the ventricular system around and inside the brain and spinal cord...
is drained from around the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
and replaced with air, oxygen, or helium to allow the structure of the brain to show up more clearly on an X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
image. It is derived from ventriculography, an earlier and more primitive method where the air is injected through holes drilled in the skull.
The procedure was introduced in 1919 by the American neurosurgeon Walter Dandy
Walter Dandy
Walter Edward Dandy, M.D. was an American neurosurgeon and scientist. He is considered one of the founding fathers of neurosurgery, along with Victor Horsley and Harvey Cushing...
.
Pneumoencephalography was performed extensively throughout the early 20th century, but it was extremely painful. The test was generally not well tolerated by patients. Headaches and severe vomiting were common side effects. Replacement of the drained spinal fluid is by slow natural production, and therefore required recovery for as long as 2-3 months before normal fluid volumes were restored. Video of the procedure is documented in a BBC documentary of an early EMI installation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_R47LDdlZM.
Modern imaging techniques such as MRI and Computed tomography
Computed tomography
X-ray computed tomography or Computer tomography , is a medical imaging method employing tomography created by computer processing...
have rendered pneumoencephalography obsolete. Today, pneumoencephalography is limited to the research field and is used under rare circumstances. A related procedure is pneumomyelography, where gas is used similarly to investigate the spinal canal
Spinal canal
The spinal canal is the space in vertebrae through which the spinal cord passes. It is a process of the dorsal human body cavity. This canal is enclosed within the vertebral foramen of the vertebrae...
.
Pneumoencephalography appears in popular culture in the movie The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
(1973), when Linda Blair's Regan MacNeil character undergoes the procedure. It is also referred to in Episode 7, Season 7 of House M.D. as an example of a dangerous procedure.