Longitudinal Investigation of Brain Blood Flow Changes in Neurosurgical Patients

Inclusion criteria

Patients:

• Male and Female subjects >18 years of age
• Written informed consent after participants' information. Foreign speaking patients should be accompanied by a person with sufficient German language proficiency to act as a translator

• Neurosurgical diseases with the potential to alter blood flow to the brain:

  • Cerebrovascular disease
  • Brain tumors
  • Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus

Healthy subjects:

• Male and Female subjects >18 years of age
• Written Informed Consent by the participant after information about the project. Foreign speaking healthy subjects should be accompanied by a person with sufficient German language proficiency to act as a translator

Exclusion criteria:

Patients:

• Unwilling or unable to co-operate with breathing maneuvers
• Respiratory or cardiac limitations to breathing through a mask
• Medical contra-indications to limited hypercapnia (high CO2 - 50 mmHg) or hypocapnia (low CO2 - 30 mmHg) (i.e., known increased intracerebral pressure, metabolic acidosis or alkalosis)
• Standard contraindications for MRI scanning
• Verbal confirmed pregnancy
• Known multiple intracranial diseases
• Presence of intracranial hemorrhage within the last 3 months
• Symptomatic increased intracranial pressure

Healthy subjects:

• Unwilling or unable to co-operate with breathing maneuvers
• Respiratory or cardiac limitations to breathing through a mask
• Medical contra-indications to limited hypercapnia (high CO2 - 50 mmHg) or hypocapnia (low CO2 - 30 mmHg) (i.e., known increased intracerebral pressure, metabolic acidosis or alkalosis)
• Standard contraindications for MRI scanning
• Verbal confirmed pregnancy
• Anamnesticly a history of neurological disease or current neurological deficits.