Background. The cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSF-P), the counter-pressure against the intraocular pressure is of high importance for neurological and neuro-ophthalmological disorders. We assessed its potential association with body mass index.
Methods.  Patients who were primarily examined in a neurological department for treatment of neuro-ophthalmological or neurological diseases were included into the clinical interventional study. The patients underwent a routine lumbar puncture and measurement of the lumbar CSF-P. Additionally, the body mass index (BMI) was determined.
Results. The study included 71 patients with a mean age of 45.7±11.3 years and a mean BMI of 23.7±2.7 kg/m². In univariate analysis, the CSF-P was significantly correlated with higher body weight (P<0.001; correlation coefficient r=0.45), higher BMI (P<0.001;r=0.50), higher systolic blood pressure (P=0.04; r=0.24) and mean blood pressure (P=0.04; r=0.24), and higher intraocular pressure (P<0.001; r=0.76). In multivariate analysis, CSF-P remained to be significantly associated with higher body mass index (P=0.008; r: 0.16) and higher intraocular pressure (P<0.001; r: 0.50), while age (P=0.43) and blood pressure (P=0.94) were not significantly associated.
Conclusions.   The associations between higher CSF-P with higher body mass index and higher intraocular pressure may give hints for the pathogenesis and risk factors of diseases such as normal-pressure glaucoma and pseudotumor cerebri.