Positive ventriculography and computer assisted tomography of the skull in the evaluation of megalocephaly in newborns and infants

To clarify indications and limits of computer assisted tomography and positive ventriculography the results of both methods were compared with each other retrospectively in 55 macrocephalic newborns and infants. It could be shown that positive ventriculography, even if combined with coronal views, was superseded by computer assisted tomography to only a certain extent. To complete the appropriate diagnosis preoperatively positive ventriculography was necessary most often in patients with paranatal disturbances who had undergone intensive care treatment. The non-invasive method of computer assisted tomography often yielded sufficient information on localisation, size, and nature of the underlying pathologic process. Both methods turned out to be complementary when topographical and functional interrelations of cranial cysts were to be analysed, or when anatomical details had to be demonstrated, especially structures of the midline and of the posterior fossa, which could not be visualized by computer assisted tomography alone. (orig.)