Cerebrospinal fluid: detection of tumors and disk herniations with MR spectroscopy.

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from 84 patients with confirmed or suspected diseases of the central nervous system were studied with hydrogen-1 magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy. In 19 of the patients, clinical chemical tests of the CSF indicated normal protein contents and normal quantities of cells; these samples were used as controls. Preliminary results indicate that tumors may be reflected in the MR spectra of CSF; disk herniations could not be distinguished on the basis of the MR spectral characteristics.