Abstract
The platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) content in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) has been measured in 13 consecutive patients with an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). The CSF samples were obtained through a cisternal or a ventricular catheter. From 2 to 6 samplings from each patient were evaluated within 13 days after, t he time course of the PDGF content was studied as well. A radioimmunoassay (double antibody technique) was used for PDGF measurement, and each patient's preoperative grade (Hunt > Kosnik) and CT group on onset (Fisher), as well as the presence of a vasospasm, and the outcome at discharge were compared with the data of the PDGF content in the CSF. Ten SAH patients (77%) showed an elevated PDGF concentration in their CSF within 4 days after SAH onset (160 ∿ 3700 pg/ml), whereas neither patients in the subacute SAH stage nor patients (controls) with another type of intracranial lesion showed any such elevation of the PDGF content in their CSF that could be detected. Further, no significant correlations were established between the PDGF content and the clinical grade, CT group, the presence of vasospasms, or the outcome. Based on these results, it would appear that PDGF is released into the CSF during the early SAH stage, and that this PDGF release may be capable of exerting an effect from the abluminal surface of the cerebral artery. While the exact mechanisms of how this proliferative angiopathy develops has not been substantiated, it thus would seem that during the acute SAH stage some preventive treatment should be initiated to inhibit this proliferative process within the vessel wall.
