Lumbar Puncture Test in Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: Does the Volume of CSF Removed Affect the Response to Tap?

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: There is limited evidence to support the use of high-volume lumbar taps over lower-volume taps in the diagnosis of normal pressure hydrocephalus. The purpose of this study is to detect whether the volume of CSF removed from patients undergoing high-volume diagnostic lumbar tap test for normal pressure hydrocephalus is significantly associated with post–lumbar tap gait performance.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective study included 249 consecutive patients who underwent evaluation for normal pressure hydrocephalus. The patients were analyzed both in their entirety and as subgroups that showed robust response to the lumbar tap test. The volume of CSF removed was treated as both a continuous variable and a discrete variable. Statistical tests were repeated with log-normalized volumes.

RESULTS: This study found no evidence of a relationship between the volume of CSF removed during the lumbar tap test and subsequent gait test performance in the patient population (Pearson coefficient r = 0.049–0.129). Log normalization of the volume of CSF removed and controlling for age and sex failed to yield a significant relationship. Subgroup analyses focusing on patients who showed greater than 20% improvement in any of the gait end points or who were deemed sufficiently responsive clinically to warrant surgery also yielded no significant relationships between the volume of CSF removed and gait outcomes, but there were preliminary findings that patients who underwent tap with larger-gauge needles had better postprocedure ambulation among patients who showed greater than 20% improvement in immediate time score (P = .04, n = 62).

CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence to support that a higher volume of CSF removal impacts gait testing, suggesting that a high volume of CSF removal may not be necessary in a diagnostic lumbar tap test.