Lymphatic drainage of cerebrospinal fluid in mammals – are arachnoid granulations the main route of cerebrospinal fluid outflow?

Wojciech Sokołowski, Karolina Barszcz, Marta Kupczyńska, Norbert Czubaj, Michał Skibniewski, Halina Purzyc*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

The outflow of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in animals was over the years the subject of detailed analysis. For a long time it was stated that arachnoid granulations of the venous sinuses play a key role in CSF circulation. However, recent studies on this subject have shown that a considerable part of the CSF is drained to the lymphatic vessels. Moreover, disorders in the CSF passage may result in severe central nervous system diseases such as e.g. hydrocephalus. In this paper, we summarize the current knowledge concerning the lymphatic drainage of the CSF in mammals. We present in detail comparative anatomy of different species taking into account cranial and spinal compartment. In addition, we clarified role of the lymphatic vessels in the CSF outflow and the relationship between impairment in this transport and central nervous system diseases. In the author’s opinion knowledge on CSF circulation is still poorly examined and therefore required comment.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)563-568
Number of pages6
JournalBiologia (Poland)
Volume73
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jun 2018
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).

Keywords

  • Cerebrospinal fluid
  • Cribriform plate
  • Hydrocephalus
  • Lymphatic drainage

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