Objective: Currently, the timing and volume of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage are determined by subjective clinical findings in infants with posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus. The aim of this study was to determine whether measurement of the resistive index is useful for management of CSF drainage in these infants.
Methods: We measured the resistive index in the anterior cerebral artery (RI-ACA) by using pulsed Doppler sonography before and after lumbar or subcutaneous ventricular catheter reservoir punctures in 7 infants with posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus.
Results: The increased RI-ACA values (mean +/- SD, 0.86 +/- 0.04; range, 0.80-0.89) decreased significantly (0.76 +/- 0.05; 0.64-0.83) after removal of CSF at a rate of 5 to 10 mL/kg (P <.0001).
Conclusions: We suggest that measurement of the RI-ACA may be useful for evaluating the efficacy of CSF drainage and to determine how much CSF should be removed in hydrocephalic infants.