Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

The human brain and spinal cord are immersed in the cerebrospinal fluid. The flu

ID: 1601933 • Letter: T

Question

The human brain and spinal cord are immersed in the cerebrospinal fluid. The fluid is normally continuous between the cranial and spinal cavities and exerts a pressure of 100 to 200 mm of H20 above the prevailing atmospheric pressure. In medical work, pressures are often measured in units of mm of H20 because body fluids, including the cerebrospinal fluid, typically have nearly the same density as water. The pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid can be measured by means of a spinal tap. A hollow tube is inserted into the spinal column, and the height to which the fluid rises is observed, as shown in the figure below. If the fluid rises to a height of 186 mm, we write its gauge pressure as 186 mm H20.

Explanation / Answer

A) 1 mmH2O is equal to 9.8 pascal

186 mm H2o = 186 * 9.8 pascals = 1822.8 Pa

1 mm H2O = 0.0000967841009836 ATM

186 mm H2O = 186* 0.0000967841009836 ATm = 0.018 ATM

1 mm H2O = 0.0735559121015 mm Hg

186 mm H2O = 186 * 0.0735559121015 mm Hg = 13.68 mm Hg

B) When the veins in the patient's neck is compressed to make the blood pressure rise in the brain, which in turn

should be transmitted to the cerebrospinal fluid.

which leads to a rise in the intracranial pressure. Given normal anatomy, the intracranial pressure will be reflected as

a rapidly rising pressure , within 1012 seconds. If there is a stenosis(A stenosis is an abnormal narrowing in a

blood vessel ) in the spine, there will be a damped, delayed response in the pressure observed, thus conforming

defect in spine

c) If compressing veins had no effect on the level of fluid, it indicates that there is some obstruction in the fluid path

like tumor,other growth or any other internal damaged part.