Computer Analysis of Intracranial Pressure Pulsatility and Blood Flow Shape During Intracranial Hypertension

Abstract

The CSF pulse pressure is produced by the pulsating changes in cerebral blood volume which occur within a rigid space, i.e. the craniospinal compartment. Therefore, two main factors affect the transmission of cerebrovascular pulsatility on the intracranial pressure, i.e. the storage capacity of the craniospinal system, usually expressed by the pressure-volume relationship [3], and the compliance of the cerebrovascular bed both of which determine the amplitude of the pulsating changes in cerebral blood volume. However, both these factors may be deeply altered by the action of regulatory mechanisms working on the cerebrovascular bed [1, 2, 5]. In particular, Eijndhoven and Avezaat [1] demonstrated that vasodilation, induced either by hypercapnia or by arterial hypotension, causes an increase in the slope of the relationship between the CSF pulse pressure and the mean intracranial pressure level. The opposite effect was observed during arterial hypertension or hypercapnia.