Objective To explore the role of routine cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) examination in diagnosis and treatment of acute 1, 2-dichloroethane (1, 2-DCE) poisoning.

Methods A total of 68 patients with acute 1, 2-DCE poisoning were dynamically examined for CSF pressure, routine and biochemical examination after their admission to hospital, and the changes of CSF indexes were analyzed.

Results On admission, the patients' CSF was colorless and transparent and the cell number was normal. Totally 32 cases(47.1%) had pressure increase; 66.7% of the patients with brain edema had CSF pressure increase, while no occurrence among patients without brain edema. The CSF pressure of patients with brain edema was higher than the patients without brain edema(P < 0.01);16.2% patients had normal or slightly increased protein concentration; the total protein and albumin concentrations of patients without brain edema were higher than patients with brain edema(P < 0.05). The glucose concentration and chloride concentration in the patients were mostly normal. The mean value of CSF pressure in patients with severe poisoning was significantly higher than the patients with mild poisoning(P < 0.05). The CSF pressure continued to rise after admission, and reached the peak at 31-60 days of the disease course. In the later stage of treatment, the CSF pressure recovered very slowly and lagged behind improvement of clinical manifestations of high cranial pressure or examination of CT, MR and other imaging.

Conclusion Dynamic monitoring on CSF pressure and routine indexes is of great value in the clinical diagnosis and treatment of acute 1, 2-DCE poisoning.