Cerebrovascular mechanical properties and slow waves of intracranial pressure in TBI patients.

Abstract

Myogenic autoregulation of cerebral blood flow is one of the mechanisms affecting cerebral hemodynamics. Short or long-lasting changes in intracranial pressure (ICP) are believed to reveal the responses of the cerebral system to myogenic stimuli. Through the incorporation of a theoretical model into the experimental measurements of cerebrovascular distensibility and compliance in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI), the current study is an attempt to explain ICP dynamics in either presence or absence of cerebral autoregulation. The pulse wave velocity and transfer function between arterial blood pressure and ICP were utilized as the major tools to reflect variations in the mechanical properties of distant cerebral artries/arteriols. The results imply that different states of cerebral autoregulation and associated regimes within the cerebrovascular system can lead to different types of interrelationship between the slow variations of ICP, cerebral arterial distensibility, and compliance. Consequently, each of these classes may require different types of treatment on patients with TBI.