A Clinical Technique Using Hg197 for Determining the Blood-Cerebrospinal Fluid Barrier: A Preliminary Report
JAMES JANECEK M.D.1,
GLEN CRAMER M.D.2,
MERLE K. LOKEN M.D., PH.D.3, , and
CARL D. KOUTSKY M.D.4
1 Director of the In-Patient Psychiatric Service, St. Paul-Ramsey Hospital, St. Paul, Minn. 55101
2 Medical Fellow, Department of Radiology, University of Minnesota Medical School
3 Associate Professor, Department of Radiology, and Director of the Nuclear Medicine Clinic, University of Minnesota Medical School
4 Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota Medical School
Five psychiatric patients were given one millicurie of Hg197 intravenously; following this, lumbar and venous punctures were performed. The data suggest that Hg197 passes the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier. As indicated by this study and by the literature on the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier, radioisotope techniques may prove to be a valuable investigative method.
