Pneumoencephalography (redirected from pneumoventriculography)

pneumoencephalography [¦nü·mō·in‚sef·ə′läg·rə·fē]

(medicine)

A method of visualizing the ventricular system and subarachnoid pathways of the brain by roentgenography after removal of spinal fluid followed by the injection of air or gas into the subarachnoid space.

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Pneumoencephalography 

(also cerebral pneumography, encephalography), X-ray examination of the brain by artificially contrasting the fluid-containing spaces. The procedure was introduced in 1918 by the American neurosurgeon W. Dandy. The contrasting agent is usually air or oxygen; it is most commonly injected by means of cerebrospinal puncture. After injection of the contrasting agent, an X ray of the skull is taken in various projections.

Pneumoencephalography is used as a diagnostic tool to detect various changes in the ventricles, cisternae, and fissures of the subarachnoid cavity of the brain (enlargement, constriction, shifting).

In modern neurology the term “encephalography” is used to designate any one of various methods of examining the brain.