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Brain herniation is a potentially deadly side effect of very high pressure within the skull that occurs when a part of the brain is squeezed across structures within the skull. The brain can shift across such structures as the falx cerebri , the tentorium cerebelli , and even through the foramen magnum (the hole in the base of the skull through ...
Cerebral edema is excess accumulation of fluid in the intracellular or extracellular spaces of the brain. [1] This typically causes impaired nerve function, increased pressure within the skull, and can eventually lead to direct compression of brain tissue and blood vessels. [1]
In children, numerous nonspecific signs and symptoms may be present. [7] The increased pressure leads to compression and traction of the cranial nerves, a group of nerves that arise from the brain stem and supply the face and neck. Most commonly, the abducens nerve (sixth nerve) is involved. This nerve supplies the muscle that pulls the eye ...
The reason that being upright is problematic is that gravity allows increased interaction between the brain stem and the top of the spinal column, increasing symptoms. Lying in the supine position can bring short-term relief. Lying supine eliminates the downward gravitational pull, reducing symptoms to some degree.
Irregular respirations occur when injury to parts of the brain interfere with the respiratory drive. Biot's respiration, in which breathing is rapid for a period and then absent for a period, occurs because of injury to the cerebral hemispheres or diencephalon. [6] Hyperventilation can occur when the brain stem or tegmentum is damaged. [6]
Cushing reflex (also referred to as the vasopressor response, the Cushing effect, the Cushing reaction, the Cushing phenomenon, the Cushing response, or Cushing's Law) is a physiological nervous system response to increased intracranial pressure (ICP) that results in Cushing's triad of increased blood pressure, irregular breathing, and bradycardia. [1]
Compression of the brain by the accumulating fluid eventually may cause neurological symptoms such as convulsions, intellectual disability, and epileptic seizures. These signs occur sooner in adults, whose skulls are no longer able to expand to accommodate the increasing fluid volume within.
Duret haemorrhages are named after Henri Duret, [2] who discovered these brainstem lesions in dogs with increased intracranial pressure. [3] They are small linear areas of bleeding in the midbrain and upper pons of the brainstem.