What is intracranial pressure, and often do it rises in infants - are interested in these issues, and sometimes very frightening parents.Visit the children's neurologist at the polyclinic often aggravates this concern, as he appoints examination of the child, who suspected increased intracranial pressure intracranial pressure - if you have a headache .
What is intracranial pressure and how it can be measured
Our brain and spinal cord is located in the aquatic environment - cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), which is formed from the blood into the choroid plexus, located in the central nervous system.Liquor bathes the brain and spinal cord and is absorbed back into the blood in the venous sinuses.Thus, the composition of cerebrospinal fluid is constantly changing, and the fluid moves through the head (the ventricles of the brain) and the spinal cord (the spinal canal) brain.And as the liquor - a liquid, there is always a certain amount of pressure, which is called intracranial (ICP).
measure intracranial pressure is only possible through a puncture (puncture) of the ventricles of the brain or the spinal canal (this is usually done in the lumbar region and is called a lumbar puncture).Just like that, one on suspicion of increased intracranial pressure, such a procedure is not done.The puncture is performed only stationary in a specialized neurosurgical department and is equivalent to the operation.
All other methods of detecting increased intracranial pressure Increased intracranial pressure is dangerous for the brain are indirect.
Why may increase intracranial pressure in infants
ICP rises if too much CSF is produced or is not completely absorbed back into the blood.This situation often develops on the background of perinatal brain lesions, that is, from 28 weeks of pregnancy to 28 days after birth.This period is the most dangerous in regard to destruction of brain structures - violation may occur when there is insufficient supply the brain with oxygen (fetal hypoxia), there are different intoxication (smoking, alcohol or certain medicines mother), intrauterine infection.During childbirth are various brain injuries.There are also tumor.All these factors can lead to an increase in intracranial pressure.Therefore, the task
examination of the child is not only to identify the increase in intracranial pressure, but the cause of this phenomenon.
On what grounds is suspected increased intracranial pressure in infants
main criterion here is to increase the baby's head.It measures not only the rate but also the volume of the chest, the child's growth, after which the data is compared with the norm for the special tables.It matters not so immediate volume of the head as its increase over time.If the volume of the head increases very quickly, it is an occasion to examine the child.
child with increased intracranial pressure is characterized by increased excitability, he often cries without reason, spit up, shaking his arms and chin.Often these children have strabismus Strabismus - how to find the cause? .All these attributes have meaning only in the complex, as the same may occur in perfectly healthy children.
In order to confirm the presence in infants of a brain injury, which is accompanied by an increase in intracranial pressure, it is necessary to conduct additional tests.Today, the main method for studying the brain in infants is ultrasonography (US) or neurosonography.This research may be conducted only for children up to a year before there closed anterior fontanelle - the bones of the skull are an obstacle to the ultrasound beam.
What is hydrocephalus
Hydrocephalus - this increase in intracranial pressure, which leads to a sharp increase in the amount of the child's head.This disease develops in severe, often congenital changes in the brain that produces too much liquor, or it is very slowly eliminated.Hydrocephalus can also develop after injuries, infections and against brain tumors.
How to treat grudnichka with increased intracranial pressure
It all depends on the degree of increased intracranial pressure and violations of the brain that can be detected in the course of examination of a child.For minor violations, and the child can not be treated, but sometimes these children is assigned a restorative (gymnastics, massage) and symptomatic treatment (eg, sedatives, hypnotics).
If changes are more significant, it is assigned a complex treatment, which includes diuretics, drugs, strengthens blood vessels, improves metabolic processes in the brain, and so on.If this treatment does not work and all signs of increased intracranial pressure continues to increase, it is possible that your child will need surgery.