Increased intracranial pressure symptoms in adults causes. Low intracranial pressure. Methods of measurement in young children

Promotion intracranial pressure does not always require treatment. If this condition is temporary, therapy is not needed. A persistent increase in ICP requires careful diagnosis.

Every person has intracranial pressure. This normal condition body. Depending on certain circumstances, it may rise or fall. However, not all people understand well why intracranial pressure is dangerous. If it is too high, it is fraught with negative consequences.

It is necessary to understand what happens inside the skull when pressure increases. The brain is surrounded vascular network and cerebrospinal fluid (cerebrospinal fluid). Pressure increases when the normal outflow of this substance.

The process of increasing pressure can be gradual or sudden. With a gradual increase, adaptation has time to occur within the brain. It is extremely important to solve the problem as soon as possible, since the disease can become chronic, and the consequences will be dire due to the risk of developing a stroke.

Increased intracranial pressure leads to deterioration of cerebral circulation and normal brain activity.

A person notices how sharply memory and reaction deteriorate. Constant headaches can be unbearable. If nothing is done, a mental disorder may even develop.

Increased blood pressure in newborns

Increased intracranial pressure levels are often found in newborns. Although this is a serious symptom, it does not necessarily pose a significant threat. If the deviation from the norm is insignificant, it is possible that the indicators will soon return to normal.

Parents can provide invaluable assistance with this. If you create suitable conditions for the child’s body, in the absence serious pathologies his blood pressure quickly returns to normal. It is important to be with him every day fresh air, monitor your diet and perform a special massage.

If simple measures do not have an effect, and intracranial pressure remains above normal for long period, action must be taken. The specialist will prescribe a complex diagnostic measures, which will help to accurately determine the cause of the deviation from the norm.

Both adults and infants may need emergency care if intracranial pressure increases very quickly. At sharp jump the risk of death increases significantly.

Complications of intracranial pressure

If you do not pay due attention to the existing problem and do not start adequate treatment, you may develop serious complications. High intracranial pressure often causes premature death or serious pathologies that cause disability.

If intracranial pressure is not treated, the following consequences may occur:

• complete loss of vision;
• mental problems;
• respiratory dysfunction;
• limb weakness;
• confusion;
• pinching of the cerebellum.

Often, increased intracranial pressure leads to the development of problems in the cardiovascular area. Some people suffering from this problem have even experienced epileptic seizures.

Complications that can cause the death of a patient include the following:

• coma;
• ischemic stroke;
• hemorrhagic stroke.

Death usually occurs when one of the above symptoms occurs.

Types of complications

There are otogenic and rhinogenic intracranial complications. They usually occur when there is high intracranial pressure caused by injury. In addition, we should not forget about orbital complications.

Otogenic intracranial complications are much more common than rhinogenic ones and make up the bulk of intracranial abnormalities.

Intracranial rhinogenic complications are as follows:

Otogenic intracranial complications are those that arise due to the penetration of any infection into the cranial cavity. The most common ailment is purulent meningitis. In the absence of adequate treatment, the patient's death may occur.

Intracranial trauma rarely leads to the development of rhinogenic complications. Such problems usually develop after surgical operations on the paranasal sinuses, due to chronic sinusitis and previous furunculosis.

Causes of the disease

Sometimes, in order to prevent certain problems, it is worth knowing why they may arise. If some diseases are properly treated in a timely manner, you may never encounter increased intracranial pressure.

An increase in cerebrospinal fluid pressure can begin due to the following diseases and pathologies:

• aneurysm rupture;
• subarachnoid hemorrhage;
• tumors in the brain;
• various head injuries;
• hemorrhage in the ventricles of the brain;
• subdural hematoma;
• encephalitis;
• hydrocephalus;
• hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage.

Unfortunately, often competent treatment starts very late as many people do not take the symptoms seriously high blood pressure inside the skull.

Symptoms of the disease

If you notice several of the following factors, it is important to contact a specialist for advice as soon as possible:

• frequent headaches, the intensity of which increases in the morning;
• increased fatigue when habitual loads become unbearable;
• incontinence or difficulty passing feces and urine;
• nausea and vomiting;
• heavy sweating;
• constant dizziness;
• sudden changes blood pressure;
• memory impairment;
• loss of normal motor coordination;
• weakened vision, loss of clarity, double vision.

Since young children, as a rule, cannot clearly explain what is bothering them, it is important to carefully monitor the condition of your child. If a child behaves restlessly, does not sleep well at night, or is capricious, it is possible that something hurts. It is important to carefully examine the fontanelles. If they pulsate or visibly swell, the problem is likely high intracranial pressure.

Children with this condition may experience the following symptoms:

• the baby rolls his eyes;
• behaves either too lethargically or excessively irritable;
• refuses food or vomits;
• convulsions appear.

If you have several symptoms, it is best to call a team emergency care. With a sharp jump in intracranial pressure, coma and even instant death can occur.

Diagnostic measures

Before prescribing treatment, the doctor will examine the patient and, if necessary, issue a referral for certain procedures. As the medical monograph shows, the direct line is used extremely rarely. It is relevant only in cases where other, more gentle methods have failed.

Held ultrasound diagnostics brain. Adults may need magnetic resonance imaging, as well as EEG and CT. A fundus examination will assess the condition of the veins in the retina. If they are dilated, this may indicate increased intracranial pressure.

The direct method for determining intracranial pressure is very difficult. To determine it, the surgeon takes a puncture of the cerebrospinal fluid and ventricles of the brain. Since this is associated with unnecessary material and moral costs, this method is used in exceptional cases.

Basic treatment methods

• diuretics;
• neuroprotectors;
• hormones.

Quite a lot important role Diet plays a role in restoring the patient’s condition. It is important to reduce the amount of salt and foods that delay the outflow of fluid from the body. Manual therapy is used.

It is useless to try to eliminate the symptoms that have arisen without fighting the root cause of the disease.

This can only give a temporary result, and human life and health will continue to be at risk. If drug treatment did not give any results, it is necessary surgical intervention. Effect of taking medicines maybe only on early stage diseases.

If you experience symptoms of increased intracranial pressure, it is important to immediately seek medical advice. Only the initial stage of the disease can be eliminated with the help of medications. Quite often one has to resort to surgical methods, which involve great risk and entail severe consequences. The use of methods is allowed, but only as a complementary therapy.

Many patients complain of minor ailments such as slight dizziness, blurred vision or occasional headaches. Few people associate such symptoms with any existing disease. Almost everyone considers the cause of this condition to be fatigue, stress, lack of sleep or mental stress. Also, not everyone knows that listed symptoms may indicate increased intracranial pressure. Increased pressure, in turn, may be a consequence of other serious problems with health, in particular disorders cerebral circulation. This is especially true for children. Neurologists have long been sounding the alarm about the increasing incidence of this pathology. And today we will touch on the issue “Intracranial pressure: symptoms and treatment”

Methods for determining HPV

If we talk about the norm of intracranial pressure, then this indicator falls within the range from 100 to 151 mm Hg. Before starting to measure HRF, specialists pay attention to the patient’s age. An important factor will be the presence or absence of a stroke in the patient’s history.

How to check intracranial pressure? Methods may vary. For children infancy the procedure is predominantly prescribed ultrasound examination and echoencephaloscopy. For older patients, computer and magnetic resonance imaging methods are used.

In case of manifestations of disturbances in the functioning of visual analyzers, use special diagnostics aimed at identifying the general picture of the fundus. In such cases, specialists are likely to detect swelling optic nerve, blurred fundus contours.

How to measure intracranial pressure? It is impossible to do this at home. Modern medicine provides three methods:

• epidural;
• subdural (used in emergency situations);
• using an intraventricular catheter.

Intracranial pressure: causes of pathology development

One of the reasons affecting intracranial pressure is medical workers called a change in brain size due to edema. This also includes the following:

• Inflammation or the appearance of a tumor in the medulla.
• Intoxication of the body resulting from poisoning: poisonous gases, low-quality alcohol, various harmful salts.
• An increase in UHF can be accompanied by a number of diseases, such as stroke, brain injury, hydrocephalus, hematomas of various etymologies.
• In newborn children, the cause of pathology, as a rule, is various injuries they received at birth.

Increased intracranial pressure: symptoms

The symptoms accompanying increased UHF are quite numerous.
Here are the main signs of intracranial pressure in adults:

• Pain in the head, usually occurring immediately after waking up, and spreading to almost the entire skull. Most often, it has a pressing nature and is not relieved by painkillers.
• Nausea and vomiting may occur periodically.
• There may be a malfunction mental processes accompanied by apathy and increased drowsiness.
• Changes in blood pressure, visual disturbances, dizziness and slow pulse are observed.

Symptoms of intracranial pressure in an adult may also include the development of unexpected panic attacks, accompanied sharp pain in the abdomen or heart. Some patients experience digestive and intestinal disorders due to this background. Experts call visual impairment a common manifestation of the pathology. Sometimes until it is completely lost if the patient is not provided with timely assistance.

Signs of intracranial pressure in babies under one year old may be as follows:

• The child experiences swelling of the fontanelles and their excessive pulsation. The baby's behavior changes noticeably: the child may be either overly sleepy or overexcited. In this case, the child experiences obvious disturbances in daytime and night sleep.
• The baby often vomits, the number of regurgitations increases, and convulsive syndrome is observed.
• The child's muscle tone decreases sharply, which can cause poor mobility.
• The baby may experience problems with vision, up to the sudden appearance of strabismus and limited mobility of the eyeball.

If the cause of the increase in VHF is an excessive amount of cerebrospinal fluid in the cranial cavity, then the baby begins to rapidly grow in head volume. The child develops hydrocephalus. With severe development of the disease, the baby may periodically lose consciousness.

Benign intracranial hypertension

The course of the disease has not been sufficiently studied to date. The cause of the development of the pathology has also not been established, despite numerous studies.

Most often, this condition is diagnosed in women who have overweight, and children. The symptoms are practically indistinguishable from high HHF and, as a rule, disappear on their own after some time.

IN in rare cases complications may occur. The most common is a sharp increase in pressure inside the skull, leading, in the worst case scenario, to death if timely assistance is not provided.

Easier ones include:

• respiratory dysfunction;
• disorder of consciousness;
• convulsive syndrome;
• blurred vision, sometimes to the point of complete loss;
• disorder of mental processes;
• strokes.

How to treat intracranial pressure?

Before beginning to determine adequate forms of treatment for the disease, neurologists establish the cause of the pathology. If the cause of the disease is various tumors or neoplasms, the patient is prescribed emergency surgery.

If there is an excess amount of fluid in the brain, shunting is prescribed to remove excess cerebrospinal fluid from the patient’s skull.

Drug correction is used if surgery not required. First of all, patients are prescribed drugs that have a sedative effect on the nervous system. Quite often diuretics are prescribed, since in this case excess cerebrospinal fluid is eliminated naturally.

Almost all patients are prescribed hormonal drugs. The combined use of such drugs will help to adjust, first of all, the amount of water in the body, and also regulate hormonal metabolism.

Compliance with a specialized diet plays an important role in the treatment of elevated UHF. The nutritional system provides for limiting salt in food, as well as the amount of fluid entering the body.

Popular and effective option treatment in Lately became the use of methods manual therapy. There are practically no contraindications for the method, as well as side effects. In rare cases, the patient may experience a sharp decline pressure. Symptoms include increased drowsiness, apathy, headaches, accompanied by vestibular manifestations (dizziness).

Brain tissue is very sensitive to mechanical stress. Therefore, nature placed the human brain, in addition to the bone box (skull), in a protective liquid environment (subarachnoid fluid spaces) and provided it with internal fluid cavities (ventricles). Thus, the brain is actually suspended in a fluid called cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The cerebrospinal fluid is in the cranial cavity under a certain pressure. It is the pressure of the cerebrospinal fluid on the brain that is called intracranial pressure .

A normal level of intracranial pressure is very important for a person’s well-being. Increased intracranial pressure is not an independent disease, but a symptom of many neurological diseases.

Causes of increased intracranial pressure

All fluid spaces and ventricles are interconnected by ducts. The liquor is constantly circulating. In some parts of the brain it is released, and then flows through the cerebrospinal fluid ducts to other parts of the brain, where it is absorbed into the bloodstream. Complete renewal of the cerebrospinal fluid occurs on average 7 times a day.

Excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid causes an increase in its pressure on the brain substance. This is called increased intracranial pressure (intracranial hypertension).

Three common causes of chronic increased intracranial pressure:

1. too much cerebrospinal fluid is released;
2. the cerebrospinal fluid is not absorbed completely;
3. the patency of the cerebrospinal fluid circulation pathways is impaired.

Increased intracranial pressure and hydrocephalus are caused by:

• traumatic brain injury (even a very old one, up to birth trauma, concussion, brain bruises);
• meningitis or encephalitis;
• congenital structural features of the central nervous system(Arnold-Chiari malformation, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, etc.);
• poisoning (including medication and alcohol);
• circulatory disorders in the vessels of the brain (for example, ischemia, encephalopathy, osteochondrosis cervical region spine);
• hypoxia;
• intracranial volumetric processes (tumors of the brain, meninges, cerebral hemorrhages and intracranial hematomas).

Hydrocephalus

If intracranial pressure is increased significantly and for a sufficiently long time, the fluid cavities of the brain can expand - this expansion is called hydrocephalus . Since the cranial cavity is closed space, the expansion of the fluid cavities of the brain occurs due to a decrease in the mass of the brain substance itself. This process can negatively affect your health.

MRI scan of a normal brain. Gray The brain substance is depicted, white is the cerebrospinal fluid. Normal size of the fluid spaces of the brain (they are slit-like). The ventricles are visible inside the brain. The subarachnoid spaces are the white border around the brain.

MRI scans at intracranial hypertension and hydrocephalus. The result of insufficient treatment of increased intracranial pressure. Excessive accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid is visible inside the brain (butterfly-shaped) and outside the brain (wide white border). The volume of the brain matter is reduced - brain atrophy from fluid pressure.

Symptoms of increased intracranial pressure

Increased pressure on the brain substance can disrupt the functioning of the central nervous system. Hence characteristic symptoms:

· Heaviness in the head or headaches that increase in the morning or in the second half of the night;
· IN severe cases Possible nausea and/or vomiting in the morning;
· Vegetative-vascular dystonia (sweating, a drop or increase in blood pressure, palpitations, fainting, etc.) is an almost obligatory symptom;
· Fatigue, “dullness”, easy exhaustion during work or study loads;
· Nervousness;
· "Bruises" under gases (if you stretch the skin under the eyes in the area of ​​the "bruise", dilated small veins are visible);
· Possible reduction sexual desire, potency;
· If the human body is in horizontal position, cerebrospinal fluid is released more actively and absorbed more slowly, so intracranial pressure and its symptoms tend to peak in the second half of the night or in the morning;
· The lower the atmospheric pressure, the higher the intracranial pressure, so the deterioration of the condition is associated with changes in weather.

The diagnosis of intracranial hypertension and hydrocephalus is established by doctors based on characteristic symptoms and on the basis of data special research, such as brain tomography.

Diagnosis of suspected increased intracranial pressure (intracranial hypertension), hydrocephalus

Intracranial pressure can be directly measured only by inserting a special needle with a pressure gauge connected to it into the fluid cavities of the skull or spinal canal. Therefore, direct measurement of intracranial pressure is not used due to the invasiveness of the procedure.

Signs of changes in intracranial pressure in children and adult patients are detected during the following examination procedures:

• neurological examination
• MRI of the brain
• fundus examination
• performing a lumbar puncture
• X-ray of the skull bones
• REG (rheoencephalography)

We can confidently talk about increased intracranial pressure based on the following data:

Dilation and tortuosity of the fundus veins is an indirect but reliable sign of increased intracranial pressure;
- Expansion of the fluid cavities of the brain and rarefaction of the medulla along the edge of the ventricles of the brain, clearly visible on computed x-ray tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI);
- Outflow disturbance venous blood from the cranial cavity, established using ultrasound vascular studies.
- decrease in pulse wave by REG study(on rheoencephalogram)

How much the brain suffers from increased intracranial pressure can be judged from EEG data.

The gold standard for instrumental examination of patients is the assessment of symptoms, brain tomography data and fundus patterns and EEG.

Echoencephalography (Echo-EG) provides indirect and not always reliable data on increased intracranial pressure; it is less reliable than CT and MRI, so this method is rarely used.

Intracranial hypertension. Hydrocephalus - treatment

The human brain cannot work normally under the influence of excess pressure; moreover, slow atrophy of the white brain matter occurs, and this leads to a slow decline intellectual abilities, violation nervous regulation work internal organs (hormonal disorders, arterial hypertension and etc.). Therefore, it is necessary to take all measures to quickly normalize intracranial pressure.

In the treatment of increased intracranial pressure, it is important to reduce the release and increase the absorption of cerebrospinal fluid. It is traditional to prescribe diuretics for this purpose. However, the constant use of diuretics is not always acceptable for the patient.

Treatment methods are used to normalize intracranial pressure without drugs. This is a special gymnastics to reduce intracranial pressure (used by the patient independently), individual drinking regime and minor changes in diet, unloading of the venous bed of the head using gentle manual therapy methods, acupuncture and physiotherapy.

Thus, a sustainable reduction in intracranial pressure is achieved without constant use of diuretics, after which unpleasant symptoms gradually decrease. The effect is usually noticeable already in the first week of treatment.

Increased intracranial pressure can only be cured if the disease that caused the symptom is treated.

Surgical treatment of hydrocephalus

In very severe cases (for example, cerebrospinal fluid block after neurosurgical operations or congenital cerebrospinal fluid block) it is used surgery. For example, a technology has been developed to implant tubes (shunts) to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid.

PS: Dehydration of the body (vomiting, diarrhea, large blood losses), chronic stress, vegetative-vascular dystonia, depression, neurosis, diseases accompanied by circulatory disorders in the vessels of the brain (for example, ischemia, encephalopathy, cervical osteochondrosis) lead to a decrease in intracranial pressure (hypotension). ).

Frequent, almost constant headaches - this symptom should not be ignored. It may indicate that intracranial pressure (ICP) is significantly increased. It has nothing in common with arterial; this is the pressure that creates in the cranium cerebrospinal fluid(other names: cerebrospinal fluid, cerebral fluid).

Nature provides a kind of protection for the brain from mechanical damage. Circulates in special cavities (subarachnoid space, ventricles of the brain) liquid substance, due to which the brain is in a “suspended” state in the skull. In addition, the cerebrospinal fluid surrounds the brain tissue, preventing it from coming into direct contact with the cranial bone.

Is cerebrospinal fluid to blame for increased intracranial pressure?

To maintain a comfortable standard of living, it has great importance normal circulation of cerebral fluid. It is produced in the brain and is a product of the secretion of special glands.

Cerebrospinal fluid performs the following tasks:

• ensures water and electrolyte balance;
• maintains a constant level of pressure inside the head (for an adult this is 7 mmHg);
• protects the brain (brain, spinal column) from mechanical damage.

Disruption of the normal movement of cerebrospinal fluid means the accumulation of excess fluid in the skull and increased intracranial pressure. This may happen if:

• CSF is produced in excess (a condition requiring treatment);
• the mechanism of fluid absorption into the bloodstream is disrupted;
• the vessels through which the cerebrospinal fluid passes are narrowed for some reason.

The amount of liquor can be partially regulated using medications which, as a result, reduce intracranial pressure.

Reasons for increased ICP

Intracranial hypertension (another name for increased ICP) is caused by disturbances in the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid, which can be a consequence of certain diseases:

• meningitis, ventriculitis, encephalitis - diseases that are characterized by inflammatory lesions meninges;
• stroke (in particular, ischemic), in which blood circulation in the brain tissue is disrupted;
• serious poisoning, salt intoxication heavy metals, vapors of poisonous gases;
• concussion, bruise and others traumatic injuries brain tissue;
• benign tumors in the absence of treatment;
• hydrocephalus;
• hypoxia (oxygen starvation).

Symptoms

Experts distinguish 3 degrees in adults. At a norm of 5-7 mmHg, a first-degree increase (moderate) is considered to be a pressure in the range of 15-20 mmHg. This condition causes characteristic symptoms and requires treatment. The second degree (increased) is characterized by levels of 20-40 mm Hg, and the third degree (significantly increased) - more than 40 mm Hg.

External symptoms of increased intracranial pressure:

• frequent headaches, which are most pronounced in the second half of the night and morning hours: in a horizontal position, the amount of cerebrospinal fluid increases, the liquid is released faster than it is absorbed. The pain is bursting in nature (rarely pulsating), localized in, occipital areas. May be accompanied by nausea, does not go away after taking the pills;
• increased sweating of unknown etiology. Intracranial pressure depends on atmospheric pressure (the lower the atmospheric pressure, the higher in the head). As a result, sudden weather changes cause the patient to faint and other vegetative-vascular disorders: impaired intestinal motility, increased salivation, attacks of suffocation and others;
• change in neuropsychological status: increased irritability, anxiety, unusually rapid fatigue during mental work, in especially severe cases - incoordination, episodic confusion, memory and attention disorders;
• deterioration of vision: first the peripheral one suffers, then the central one. Double images, “fog” and “spots” in the eyes may appear;
• pronounced blue under the eyes.

Diagnostics

Diagnosis is difficult: exact values can only be found out through surgical manipulation, which is unsafe for health and is used in case of emergency. The procedure involves inserting a needle with a pressure gauge connected to it into the fluid cavities of the brain.

The symptoms described above are sufficient for indirect diagnosis; if they occur, you should consult a neurologist.

Reasons for diagnosing hypertension:

1. The degree of dilatation of the veins of the fundus. An examination by an ophthalmologist can determine whether intracranial pressure is outside the normal range.
2. Physical expansion of fluid cavities in the brain, rarefaction of the brain matter at the edges of the ventricles. This can be seen using special tomographic studies (CT, MRI).

An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a study that allows you to determine how much the brain suffers from increased ICP.

Why is elevated ICP dangerous?

When it comes to adults, there are two forms of intracranial hypertension: acute and chronic.

The acute form is caused by damage to the skull due to trauma or hemorrhage (consequence of a stroke, rupture of an aneurysm). How to reduce intracranial pressure in this case: urgent surgical intervention will be required; a sudden and strong increase in ICP can be fatal. Craniotomy - surgical removal some areas of the skull - allows you to normalize the situation.

Increased intracranial pressure is a neurological disorder that can result from injury or illness. Lack of treatment or medication leads to:

• rapid visual impairment, up to its complete loss;
• development of epileptic syndromes;
• violation of mental integrity;
• breathing disorders of consciousness;
• severe weakness in the limbs.

Stages of treatment

1. Elimination of the cause that caused intracranial hypertension.

If the examination reveals that the increase in ICP is caused by some formation inside the brain structure (this could be a hematoma, tumor, aneurysm), it is necessary to perform surgical intervention.

Excessive secretion of cerebrospinal fluid in hydrocephalus is corrected using shunt operations. Their essence lies in the fact that another, additional path is organized for the drainage of cerebrospinal fluid. This helps reduce intracranial pressure.

1. Relieving symptoms of increased intracranial pressure using various medications.

There are no special tablets that would treat increased intracranial pressure in adults. But with the help of certain groups of medications it is possible to reduce total fluids in the body, including spinal fluid. First of all, these are medications that belong to diuretics and osmodiuretics. They have and Negative influence: promotes leaching healthy salts from the body. Therefore, tablets containing essential minerals for proper functioning of the heart muscle.

Also applicable hormonal medications and drugs from the group of neuroprotectors.

1. Diet therapy.

Aimed at limiting fluid and salt intake. Compliant dietary table number 10. Meat and fish broths, garlic and onion, pepper, mustard, chocolate, coffee, cocoa, fresh baked goods, as well as products that promote gas formation - all types of legumes. It is recommended to reduce the consumption of animal fats in favor of vegetable fats. Heat treatment gentle food: boiling, steaming.

Treatment of intracranial pressure should be comprehensive, medications in combination with proper diet work more efficiently. In extremely rare cases, during treatment, a decreased ICP may be observed, the symptoms of which are manifestations of general weakness - drowsiness, dizziness. Headache it intensifies with every movement of the head. All such conditions should be carefully recorded and reported to the attending physician.

Intracranial pressure is a symptom that affects both adults and small children and even infants. Therefore, it is not at all surprising when people, especially parents, upon hearing the diagnosis of “intracranial pressure” begin to panic and worry. But under no circumstances should you do this, since it is in such situations that the pressure increases. First of all, you need to figure out what triggered the symptom and how to determine intracranial pressure in order to begin immediate treatment to avoid possible undesirable consequences.

What is pathology

In medicine, intracranial pressure (ICP) is known as a condition that is not an independent pathology, but a syndrome indicating the development of a certain disease.

In the cavity of the human skull there is parenchyma (brain tissue), intracerebral fluid and blood continuously circulating through the vessels - these structures create intracranial pressure, which, depending on specific situation may decrease or increase. The syndrome is accompanied unpleasant sensations, discomfort, worsens the patient’s quality of life. This diagnosis It is often diagnosed in adults; there are cases of ICP in young children and even newborns.

In order to detect or exclude in time dangerous pathology, it is important to know the causes and symptoms of the development of the condition in adults, children and infants, as well as how to measure intracranial pressure at each age. Unfortunately, today it is not possible to measure ICP independently at home - such a procedure is available only in clinics where special equipment, devices and qualified specialists are available.

Methods of measurement in adults

Intracranial pressure in adults is expressed high pressure cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the skull. U healthy person all elements located in the brain work stably and in balance. If one of the organs increases in size, the balance is disrupted as it begins to put pressure on other organs in the skull, thereby creating intracranial pressure.

Symptoms during the development of ICP in adults:

• frequent headaches;
• cardiopalmus;
• sudden jumps in blood pressure;
• vomiting and nausea in the morning;
• fatigue, excited and nervous state;
• dark circles under the eyes;
• in some cases - decreased potency.

In medicine, there are two forms of intracranial pressure. Acute form People who have suffered severe skull injuries, stroke, or ruptured aneurysm suffer. In this case, without fast medical care available death. To reduce intracranial pressure, surgery is required - craniotomy. The operation involves removing certain areas in the skull area.

Chronic form is the result of a neurological disorder. In this case, hypertension can last for quite a long time and develops without special reasons or due to trauma to the skull or prolonged use medical supplies.

Attention! The chronic form of ICP is dangerous because it can lead to partial or complete loss vision. This condition is difficult to treat.

How to measure

Today, there are two ways to measure ICP in adults, which are the most accurate and reliable:

1. The first method involves inserting a special catheter into the lateral stomach of the brain, where the fluid is located. spinal cord.
2. The second method is used very rarely, only in case of exception when required medical indications. The specialist inserts a subdural screw into the skull and its burr hole, thus measuring the pressure. Before the procedure, it is necessary to shave the hair on the head and treat the incision site with an antiseptic. When the specialist makes the incision, he moves the skin slightly to the side, exposes the skull and inserts the sensor.

Attention! In a healthy person, ICP does not exceed 5–7 mm Hg. Art. Indicators exceeding the specified norm signal the development of pathology, disruption of the functioning of certain organs and systems.

To determine ICP in adults, a doctor may prescribe a computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scan.

Why does ICP increase in young children?

Intracranial pressure in an infant is caused by a lack of cerebrospinal fluid (intracranial fluid) or, conversely, its excessive amount. Measure your ICP yourself infants it is impossible - such procedures are carried out only in clinics where there are special measuring instruments.

Causes and symptoms

Newborn babies are very tender and sensitive, their body reacts sharply to even minor negative factors which can lead to the development of pathology. In most cases, the causes of ICP in infants are:

• long, difficult labor;
• prolonged, painful toxicosis of the mother during gestation;
• oxygen starvation of the fetus in the womb as a result of entanglement in the umbilical cord;
• rapid maturation or exfoliation of the maternal placenta during gestation;
• pathologies of the pathways along which cerebrospinal fluid is transported;
• diseases (encephalitis, hydrocephalus, intracerebral hemorrhage, skull injuries, cerebral edema, malignant and benign tumors, meningitis, delayed fusion of cranial bones).

Important! According to statistics, in most cases, ICP in infants develops due to birth injuries, severe course pregnancy, fetal hypoxia, intrauterine infections. Among the many causes, hydrocephalus occupies the main place.

The symptoms of this pathology in a child largely depend on his age. In addition, the condition is often accompanied by signs of an underlying disease that provokes an increase in intracranial pressure. In medicine, symptoms of ICP are distinguished by age category children.

Children under one year of age who have pathology suffer from:

• nausea, vomiting;
• frequent and profuse regurgitation;
• anxiety;
• cry constantly (loudly);
• the venous network is clearly visible under the scalp;
• the skull is increased in size;
• infants refuse to feed;
• weight loss.

Children suffering from intracranial pressure lag behind their peers in psycho-emotional and physical development. They often have Graefe's symptom, which is characterized by disruption of work nerve endings responsible for motor function eyeballs.

Interesting! Graefe's symptom is popularly known as the “setting sun symptom.”

Several other signs appear in children after one year. Among them are:

• vomiting, nausea;
• is felt pain syndrome behind the eyeball;
• double vision and the appearance of “floaters” before the eyes, ribbons or flashes;
• headache at night and in the evening;
• irritability, anxiety;
• tearfulness;
• restless, anxious sleep.

As soon as the parents noticed similar symptoms in a child, it is necessary to urgently seek help from a specialist who will prescribe an appropriate examination of the baby and find out the cause of his condition.

Methods of measurement in young children

More recently, most precise method The diagnosis of intracranial pressure in young children was considered to be a spinal cord puncture. Today, despite the accurate diagnostic results, this method is used in rare cases, since there are others that are no less effective and more effective. safe ways ICP measurements in children.

Having noticed the first signs of a symptom, parents should first contact their pediatrician, who will give a referral for examination to a neurologist. The doctor will be able to make a diagnosis after examining the child’s head and fontanelles, taking into account complaints received from the parents. The baby will also need to be examined by an ophthalmologist. The development of ICP can be indicated by changes in the fundus and optic nerve head, dilated veins, and spasm of the arteries. If a child suffers from Graefe's symptom, the doctor will be able to determine it after examining the baby.

In most cases, infants are prescribed neurosonography. It is carried out until the “fontanel” on the head is completely closed. An ultrasound examination will help determine the size of the gap between the hemispheres of the brain, the size of the ventricles, their pathology or deformation, whether the brain structures are displaced to the sides, or whether there is any space-occupying tumor in the brain.

Older children are prescribed computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging.

If Small child suffers from ICP, it is necessary urgent treatment. But first of all, you need to determine the cause that provoked the development of the symptom. After the examination, the doctor will prescribe appropriate treatment and tell you about prevention methods to prevent relapse.