Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Aug 26;363(9):891-3.
doi: 10.1056/NEJMc1004957.

Reference range for cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure in children

Robert A Avery, Samir S Shah, Daniel J Licht, Jeffrey A Seiden, Jimmy W Huh, Jan Boswinkel, Michael D Ruppe, Amber Chew, Rakesh D Mistry, Grant T Liu

Reference range for cerebrospinal fluid opening pressure in children

Robert A Avery et al. N Engl J Med. .
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Distribution of CSF Opening Pressure and Effects of Sedation, Body-Mass Index, and Age
Panel A shows the distribution of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) opening pressure for 197 study subjects who met the inclusion criteria for the reference group. The mean (±SD) CSF opening pressure was 19.8±6.8 cm of water. The values ranged from 6 to 47 cm of water and were similar in subjects 10 years of age or older and those younger than 10 years. The threshold for an abnormally elevated opening pressure, which was based on subjects with opening pressures in the 90th percentile or higher, was 28 cm of water. The threshold for an abnormally low opening pressure, based on subjects in the 10th percentile, was 11.5 cm of water. Panel B shows the results of an unadjusted linear regression analysis of the relationship between opening pressure and sedation (β = 3.459, P = 0.005). The relationship between opening pressure and body-mass index (BMI, the weight in kilograms divided by the square of the height in meters) is shown in Panel C (β = 0.138, P = 0.12) and that between opening pressure and age in Panel D (β = 0.328, P<0.001). Statistically significant associations between opening pressure and moderate-to-deep sedation (β = 4.990, P = 0.002) and opening pressure and BMI (β = 0.313, P = 0.002) remained in multivariable analysis adjusted for age. In a multivariable linear regression model, no significant association was found between age (β = 0.097, P = 0.42) and opening pressure, even when age was categorized as 10 years or more or as less than 10 years (β = 1.141, P = 0.30). No significant association was found between opening pressure and sedation with ketamine (β = 3.080; 95% confidence interval, −0.551 to 6.712; P = 0.10).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rangwala LM, Liu GT. Pediatric idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Surv Ophthalmol. 2007;52:597–617. - PubMed
    1. Friedman DI, Jacobson DM. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension. J Neuroophthalmol. 2004;24:138–145. - PubMed
    1. Corbett JJ, Mehta MP. Cerebrospinal fluid pressure in normal obese subjects and patients with pseudotumor cerebri. Neurology. 1983;33:1386–1388. - PubMed
    1. Whiteley W, Al-Shahi R, Warlow CP, Zeidler M, Lueck CJ. CSF opening pressure: reference interval and the effect of body mass index. Neurology. 2006;67:1690–1691. - PubMed
    1. Nechyba C. Blood chemistries and body fluids. In: Gunn VL, Nechyba C, editors. The Harriet Lane handbook: a manual for pediatric house officers. 16th ed. Philadelphia: Mosby; 2002. pp. 549–559.

Publication types