Potential Hidden Cause of Dementia Discovered - Neuroscience News

Summary: Some patients diagnosed with behavioral-variant frontotemporal dementia (bv-FTD) may instead be suffering from a cerebrospinal fluid leak that leads to brain sagging.

When the fluid leaks through a tear or cyst in the surrounding membrane, it is visible on CT myelogram imaging with the aid of contrast medium.

To detect these leaks, technicians must use a specialized CT scan and observe the contrast medium in motion as it flows through the cerebrospinal fluid.

Image is in the public domain“This is a rapidly evolving field of study, and advances in imaging technology have greatly improved our ability to detect sources of CSF leak, especially CSF-venous fistula,” said Keith L. Black, MD, chair of the department of Neurosurgery and the Ruth and Lawrence Harvey Chair in Neuroscience at Cedars-Sinai.

The remaining 12 study participants, whose leaks could not be identified, were treated with nontargeted therapies designed to relieve brain sagging, such as implantable systems for infusing the patient with CSF.

Nine patients (42.8%) were found to have a CSF-venous fistula, a recently discovered type of CSF leak that cannot be detected on conventional spinal imaging.