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Increased intracranial pressure

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• Symptoms
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Definition:

An increase in normal brain pressure can be due to an increase in cerebrospinal fluid pressure. It can also be due to increased pressure within the brain matter caused by lesions (such as a tumor) or swelling within the brain matter itself.

Alternative Names:

ICP; Intracranial pressure - increased

Causes, incidence, and risk factors:

An increase in your intracranial pressure is a severe medical problem. The pressure itself can be responsible for further damage to the central nervous system by causing compression of important brain structures and by restricting blood flow through blood vessels that supply the brain.

Many conditions can increase intracranial pressure. Common causes include:

• severe head injury
• subdural hematoma
• hydrocephalus
• brain tumor
• hypertensive brain hemorrhage
• intraventricular hemorrhage
• meningitis
• encephalitis
• aneurysm rupture and subarachnoid hemorrhage
• status epilepticus
• stroke

• Review Date: 1/23/2006
• Reviewed By: Kevin Sheth, M.D., Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard University, Boston, MA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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