Brain shrinkage and subdural effusion associated with ACTH administration.

Sequential computed tomographic (CT) studies of 11 patients (aged five months to seven years) with intractable epilepsy treated with synthetic ACTH-Z showed brain shrinkage in all cases. Brain shrinkage started to appear on daily ACTH injections for seven days, reached the maximum within four weeks of administration (14 injections every day and then 7 injections every other day), and almost returned to the original status in seven out of nine cases which were followed up for one to three months after the therapy. The subjects aged less than two years showed more remarkable brain shrinkage than did those aged more than five years. Furthermore, two other cases were complicated by subdural effusion after ACTH therapy. It is the authors' assumption that both of these phenomena are caused by the high concentration of corticosteroid through a change of the water and electrolyte contents in the brain.