Effect of Cortisone and Hydrocortisone on Piarachnoid Adhesions

It has previously been shown in acute and chronic experiments that cortisone can be administered repeatedly in certain doses into the cisterna magna of cats with safety. 1 As a continuation of these experiments, we have investigated the effect of cortisone and hydrocortisone administered intracisternally on the formation of experimentally produced piarachnoid adhesions. Since the first report 2 on the depressing effect of cortisone on the formation of connective tissue, numerous investigations have been carried out that have confirmed these findings. It has been shown that this hormone was able to inhibit the formation of experimentally produced peritoneal, 3 pericardial, and pleural 4 adhesions in animals. However, there is only one report on the effect of adrenocortical hormones on experimentally produced piarachnoid adhesions. 5 In the present paper the effect in cats of adrenocortical hormones on piarachnoid adhesions produced by intracisternally administered talcum is described. METHODS AND MATERIALS Forty-seven cats