Glaser, J. (1934). The cerebrospinal fluid of premature infants. In J. H. Hess, G. J. Mohr, & P. F. Bartelme, Behavior research fund monographs. The physical and mental growth of prematurely born children (pp. 360-410). Chicago, IL, US: University of Chicago Press.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/13520-020
This reprinted article originally appeared in American Journal of Diseases of Children, 1928(Aug), 36, 195-247; and 1930(Oct), 40, 741. One hundred and seventy infants were studied and 206 lumbar punctures performed, 59 per cent of which were made during life and the remainder immediately after death. The explanation for the frequency of faulty lumbar punctures in premature infants is shown to be the detachment of the posterior wall of the dura mater spinalis by the entering needle and the pushing of the posterior wall against the anterior wall, resulting in a dry tap. If the needle pierces both layers of the dura and enters the venous plexus on the posterior wall of the canal or the highly vascular body of a vertebra, a tap contaminated by traumatic blood may result. It is suggested that this may be the explanation of occasional unsuccessful punctures in older children and in adults. Based on anatomic and physical considerations, a technic was developed by which the percentage of faulty lumbar punctures in premature infants was reduced from 35 to about 14 per cent. Ill results have not been seen from the employment of this technic on living premature infants, and the procedure has often been of great value in the diagnosis and treatment of cerebral hemorrhage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)