Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Silicone oil-induced hydrocephalus in the rabbit

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Child's Nervous System Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Hydrocephalus was induced in adult rabbits by injecting silicone oil into the cisterna magna. Mean intracranial pressure was significantly elevated for approximately 36 h post-injection, during which time maximal ventricular dilatation was attained. Stretching and compression of periventricular tissue and capillaries accompanied dilation of the lateral ventricles. Ventricular dilation promoted mitotic activity among the periventricular astroglia. Ventriculomegaly altered the metabolism of the monoamine neurotransmitters in the cortex, hippocampus, diencephalon, hypothalamus, and brainstem. Ischemic injury to neurons of the hippocampal formation, particularly the dentate gyrus, was observed when hydrocephalus had persisted for more than 4 weeks. Cerebrospinal fluid shunting effectively reversed the neuropathologic changes only when done in the early stages of hydrocephalus. When hydrocephalus persisted for 8 weeks, rapid reversal of changes in the ependyma and periventricular capillaries was prevented largely by periventricular gliosis.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ball MJ (1976) Neurofibrillary tangles in the dementia of “normal pressure” hydrocephalus. Can J Neurol Sci 3:227–235

    Google Scholar 

  2. Ball MJ, Vis CL (1978) Relationship of granulovacuolar degeneration in hippocampal neurones to aging and to dementia in normal pressure hydrocephalus. J Gerontol 33:815–824

    Google Scholar 

  3. Borgensen SE (1984) Conductance to outflow of CSF in normal pressure hydrocephalus. Acta Neurochir (Wien) 71:1–45

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bruni JE, Del Bigio MR, Clattenberg RE (1985) Ependyma: normal and pathological. A review of the literature. Brain Res Rev 9:1–19

    Google Scholar 

  5. Clark RG, Milhorat TH (1970) Experimental hydrocephalus. III. Light microscopic findings in acute and subacute obstructive hydrocephalus in the monkey. J Neurosurg 32:400–413

    Google Scholar 

  6. Dandy WE, Blackfan KD (1913) An experimental and clinical study of internal hydrocephalus. JAMA 61:2216–2217

    Google Scholar 

  7. De SN (1950) A study of the changes in the brain in experimental internal hydrocephalus. J Pathol Bacteriol 62:197–208

    Google Scholar 

  8. Del Bigio MR (1989) Hydrocephalus-induced changes in the composition of cerebrospinal fluid. Neurosurgery 25:416–423

    Google Scholar 

  9. Del Bigio MR, Bruni JE (1987) Chronic intracranial pressure monitoring in conscious hydrocephalic rabbits. Pediatr Neurosci 13:67–71

    Google Scholar 

  10. Del Bigio MR, Bruni JE (1987) Cerebral water content in silicone oil-induced hydrocephalic rabbits. Pediatr Neurosci 13:72–77

    Google Scholar 

  11. Del Bigio MR, Bruni JE (1988) Changes in periventricular vasculature of rabbit brain following induction of hydrocephalus and after shunting. J Neurosurg 69:115–120

    Google Scholar 

  12. Del Bigio MR, Bruni JE (1988) Periventricular pathology in hydrocephalic rabbits before and after shunting. Acta Neuropathol 77:186–195

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Drake JM, Potts DG, Lemaire C (1989) Magnetic resonance imaging of silastic-induced canine hydrocephalus. Surg Neurol 31:28–40

    Google Scholar 

  14. Edvinsson L, West KA (1971) Relation between intracranial pressure and ventricular size at various stages of experimental hydrocephalus. Acta Neurol Scand 47:451–457

    Google Scholar 

  15. Epstein F, Rubin RC, Hochwald GM (1974) Restoration of the cortical mantle in severe feline hydrocephalus: a new laboratory model. Dev Med Child Neurol [Suppl 32]:49–53

    Google Scholar 

  16. Foltz EL, Shurtleff DB (1963) Five-year comparative study of hydrocephalus in children with and without operation. J Neurosurg 20:1064–1079

    Google Scholar 

  17. Gopinath G, Bhatia R, Gopinath PG (1979) Ultrastructural observations in experimental hydrocephalus in rabbits. J Neurol Sci 43:333–344

    Google Scholar 

  18. Graff-Radford NR, Rezai K, Godersky JC, Eslinger P, Damasio H, Kirchner PT (1987) Regional cerebral blood flow in normal pressure hydrocephalus. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 50:1589–1596

    Google Scholar 

  19. Granholm L (1966) Induced reversibility of ventricular dilatation in experimental hydrocephalus. Acta Neurol Scand 42:581–588

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hakim S, Venegas JG, Burton JD (1976) The physics of the cranial cavity, hydrocephalus and normal pressure hydrocephalus: mechanical interpretation and mathematical model. Surg Neurol 5:287–210

    Google Scholar 

  21. Hemmer R, Bohm B (1976) Once a shunt, always a shunt? Dev Med Child Neurol [Suppl 37]:69–73

  22. Higashi K, Asahisa H, Ueda N, Kobayashi K, Hara K, Noda Y (1986) Cerebral blood flow and metabolism in experimental hydrocephalus. Neurol Res 8:169–176

    Google Scholar 

  23. Iwasaki Y, Shitara N, Nakamura H, Fujiwara M, Saito I, Takakura K (1987) Spatial memory disruption in hydrocephalic rats assessed in the radial arm maze (abstract). 8th European Congress of Neurosurgery, Barcelona, Spain 1987

  24. Kuchiwaki H, Hasuo M, Furuse M (1979) Effect of increases in intracranial pressure in acute experimental communicating hydrocephalus. Brain Nerve 31:577–582

    Google Scholar 

  25. Lux WE Jr, Hochwald GM, Sahar A, Ransohoff J (1970) Periventricular water content. Effect of pressure in experimental communicating hydrocephalus. Arch Neurol 23:475–479

    Google Scholar 

  26. McAllister JP II, Maugans TA, Shah MV, Truex RC Jr (1985) Neuronal effects of experimentally induced hydrocephalus in newborn rats. J Neurosurg 63:776–783

    Google Scholar 

  27. Miyaoka M, Ito M, Wada M, Sato K, Ishii S (1988) Measurement of local cerebral glucose utilization before and after V-P shunt in congenital hydrocephalus in rats. Metab Brain Dis 3:125–132

    Google Scholar 

  28. Penfield W, Elvidge AR (1932) Hydrocephalus and the atrophy of cerebral compression. In: Penfield W (ed) Cytology and cellular pathology of the nervous system. Hoeber, New York, pp 1203–1217

    Google Scholar 

  29. Penn RD, Bacus W (1984) The brain as a sponge: a computed tomographic look at Hakim's hypothesis. Neurosurgery 14:670–675

    Google Scholar 

  30. Pluta R (1987) Resuscitation of the rabbit brain after acute complete ischemia lasting up to one hour: pathophysiological and pathomorphological observations. Resuscitation 15:267–287

    Google Scholar 

  31. Raimondi AJ, Soare P (1974) Intellectual development in shunted hydrocephalic children. Am J Dis Child 127:664–671

    Google Scholar 

  32. Richards HK, Bucknall RM, Jones HC, Pickard JD, (1989) The uptake of [14C] deoxyglucose into brain of young rats with inherited hydrocephalus. Exp Neurol 103:194–198

    Google Scholar 

  33. Rubin RC, Hochwald GM, Tiell M, Epstein F, Ghatak N, Wisniewski H (1976) Hydrocephalus. III. Reconstitution of the cerebral cortical mantle following ventricular shunting. Surg Neurol 5:179–183

    Google Scholar 

  34. Schmidt-Kastnew R, Grosse Ophoft B, Hossmann KA (1990) Pattern of neuronal vulnerability in the cat hippocampus after one hour of global cerebral ischemia. Acta Neuropathol 79:444–455

    Google Scholar 

  35. Takei F, Shapiro K, Hirano A, Kohn I (1987) Influence of the rate of ventricular enlargement on the ultrastructural morphology of the white matter in experimental hydrocephalus. Neurosurgery 21:645–650

    Google Scholar 

  36. Weller RO, Wisniewski H (1969) Histological and ultrastructural changes in experimental hydrocephalus in adult rabbits. Brain 92:819–828

    Google Scholar 

  37. Whitelaw A, Ventriculomegaly Trial Group (1990) Randomized trial of early tapping in neonatal posthaemorrhagic hydrocephalus. Arch Dis Child 65:3–10

    Google Scholar 

  38. Wisniewski H, Weller RO, Terry RD (1969) Experimental hydrocephalus produced by the subarachnoid infusion of silicone oil. J Neurosurg 31:10–14

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Author notes

  1. Mare R. Del Bigio

    Present address: Division of Neuropathology, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555, University Avenue, ON M5G 1X8, Toronto, Canada

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Mare R. Del Bigio

  2. Department of Anatomy, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    J. Edward Bruni

Authors
  1. Mare R. Del Bigio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. J. Edward Bruni
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Del Bigio, M.R., Bruni, J.E. Silicone oil-induced hydrocephalus in the rabbit. Child's Nerv Syst 7, 79–84 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247861

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247861

Key words

Search

Navigation