This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
This monograph is devoted to all phases of the subject of cisternal puncture. The anatomy of the cisterna magna and the parts surrounding it is well described and illustrated. The various accidents which have resulted from cisternal puncture are recorded and analyzed. Manometric, cytologic and chemical studies of the fluid obtained from the cistern are compared with those of fluid from the lumbar region. The indications for cisternal puncture are reviewed, and are, on the whole, conservative. The authors give their technic for carrying out the puncture, which is based on careful anatomic study and measurements. They recommend drawing the shortest possible line from the tip of one mastoid to that of the other and using the middle of this as the point of entry of the needle. In the plane of the line so drawn the possibility of injury to vessels is minimized, and if by mischance the needle