In 1926, Kubie1 described a method for drainage of the central nervous system, which he believed might be effective in certain infections of the nervous system. In subsequent papers2 the method was further elaborated, controlled by experiments on animals and applied to human beings.
The theory of the method is as follows: The cerebrospinal fluid is a dialysate derived from the blood plasma and is in hydrostatic and osmotic equilibrium with it. The cerebrospinal fluid is formed by a process of filtration through the capillaries of the choroid plexus and also through the capillaries throughout the central nervous system, the latter portion of the fluid draining into the subarachnoid space by way of the perivascular spaces. Drainage of the cerebrospinal fluid by lumbar puncture, therefore, should drain the perivascular spaces as well as the subarachnoid space and ventricles. The fluid formed from the choroid plexuses and the perivascular