Translocation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) between the intracranial and spinal subarachnoid space was blocked by ligating the cervical spinal core in eight cats under pentobarbital and nitrous oxide anesthesia, and the effects of cerebral venous congestion on the pressure-volume index (PVI), a measure relating the change in intracranial volume, and the logarithm of intracranial pressure (ICP) were evaluated. The changes in the volume-pressure response (VPR), a measure of intracranial elastance, were calculated simultaneously. Cerebral venous congestion was induced by lowering the head relative to the level of the heart by tilting the trunk of the animals to 20 degrees below horizontal. The presence of venous congestion was confirmed by an increase in the sagittal sinus pressure (SSP). The body position was shifted from horizontal prone (H1 group) to head-down tilt (D1 group) in four animals (group 1) and from head-down tilt (D2 group) to horizontal prone (H2 group) in the other four animals (group 2), and PVI and VPR were determined in each group. The changes in ICP and SSP with change of body position in group 1 were not significantly different from those in group 2, with both pressures changing by 7-8 mm Hg. PVI showed no significant differences between the H1 group and H2 group or between the D1 group and D2 group. The mean (+/- SEM) PVI for all measurements in the head-down tilt position (D1 and D2 groups) was significantly higher (0.50 +/- 0.02 ml; p < 0.01) than in the horizontal position (H1 and H2 groups; 0.35 +/- 0.02 ml).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)