[Intracranial pressure pulse waveform: considerations about its origin and methods of estimating intracranial pressure dynamics].

Epidural pulse waveform is important as an indicator of intracranial pressure (ICP) dynamics. In this study, the origin of epidural pulse and the clinical implication of its waveform were investigated, using anesthetized artificially ventilated dogs. For this purpose, a cortical artery and a vein were cannulated, and the pressures were recorded simultaneously with epidural pressure (EDP), epidural pulse waveform (EDP-WF), systemic arterial pressure measured in a carotid artery (SAP), central venous pressure (CVP) and electrocardiogram. EDP-WF is composed of several initial peaks and a small delayed peak on the descending limb. The former peaks were slightly delayed from the SAP pulse and were synchronous with the cortical arterial pulse. The latter peak was synchronous with the atrial "a" wave on CVP, but not with the cortical venous pulse. Moreover, the cortical venous pulse was quite similar to EDP-WF. These findings indicate that the pulsation of the brain may be generated by the pulsatile arterial blood flow into the brain, which also affected the pulsation of the cortical vein. The latter peak which was considered to be of venous origin may reflect the dynamics of venules in the brain, not of the cortical vein. Increase of ICP by constant inflation of the epidural balloon or inhalation of CO2 cause EDP-WF monotonous. It is possible that the transmission of arterial pulse into the brain was augmented because of the tightness of the brain or decrease of cerebral vascular tone, although the cortical arterial pressure was not significantly changed or was even slightly decreased. Using a bolus injection technique, the change of EDP-WF in cats was compared with volume-pressure response (VPR) and pulse pressure (PP) which are reported to be good indicators for ICP dynamics. At about 30mmHg, EDP-WF became monotonous while VPR or PP showed only linear relationships with EDP up to 50 to 60 mmHg. Therefore EDP-WF may provide useful information about ICP dynamics in a relatively lower pressure range which could not be detected by VPR or PP study.