Effects of ketamine on the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid. Variations of its effects

: Effects of chlorhydrate of Ketamine upon CSF pressure were studied in 10 patients with different intracranial pathology. In opposition to the results of other authors, in 5 patients there was no increase of pressure after the drug was applied. This difference is ascribed to the individual pathology of the patients studied, emphasizing that 4 of them were bearers of a diffuse vascular encephalopathy with intelectual damage, added to an acute vascular accident in 3 cases. For these reasons, it is presumed that a deficient auto-regulation of cerebral circulation, with diminished vasomotor reactivity, is reasponsible for the absence of hypertension after application of the drug. The study of the variations of cerebrospinal fluid pressure after chlorhydrate of Ketamine is applied may enable to measure the efficiency of the mechanisms of auto-regulation in any determined patient.