Intracranial hypertension is the medical term that describes increased pressure inside the skull and around the spinal cord, which may not have a specific cause, be known as idiopathic, or be caused by trauma or diseases such as brain tumor, intracranial bleeding, nervousness.infection of the system, stroke or side effect of certain medications.
Normally, normal pressure inside the skull varies between 5 and 15 mmHg, but in intracranial hypertension is higher than this value and therefore, in the most severe cases, it can prevent blood from entering the skull, without leaving adequate oxygenation of the brain.
- Since the brain is a very sensitive organ and cannot be deprived of oxygen.
- Hypertension must be treated as soon as possible in the hospital and usually requires a few days in the hospital.
Signs and symptoms of intracranial hypertension may include
In some cases, there may even be temporary blindness, where the person is blind at certain times of the day; in other people, this blindness may become permanent, depending on how the pressure affects the optic nerve.
Intracranial hypertension can only be suspected by the doctor through symptoms and when there are no other causes that may cause the changes.
However, it is often necessary to perform several tests to confirm the diagnosis and try to find a cause, for this the most common scans are CT, MRI or lumbar puncture; when a cause cannot be identified, hypertension is often defined as idiopathic intracranial hypertension, meaning it has no known cause.
Intracranial hypertension is usually caused by a condition that causes an increase in brain size or the amount of brain fluid, so the most common causes are:
In addition, any modification of the vessels that carry blood to the brain or allow brain fluid to circulate can also cause increased pressure.
Treatment of intracranial hypertension is usually done in the hospital and depends on its cause.However, it is common for treatment to include the injection of corticosteroids, diuretics or barbiturate remedies into the vein, which decrease the amount of fluid in the skull and reduce pressure.
In addition, it is recommended that the person lie on his or her back, with his back tilted at 30 degrees, to facilitate the drainage of brain fluid, as well as to avoid moving the head, as this increases the pressure in the veins.