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Review
. 2021 Jun 14:12:274.
doi: 10.25259/SNI_53_2021. eCollection 2021.

The historic evolution of intracranial pressure and cerebrospinal fluid pulse pressure concepts: Two centuries of challenges

Nicollas Nunes Rabelo  1 , Josué da Silva Brito  2 , Jassiara Soares da Silva  2 , Nicolli Bellotti de Souza  2 , Giselle Coelho  3 , Sérgio Brasil  1 , Gustavo Frigieri  4
Affiliations
Review

The historic evolution of intracranial pressure and cerebrospinal fluid pulse pressure concepts: Two centuries of challenges

Nicollas Nunes Rabelo et al. Surg Neurol Int. .

Abstract

Background: There is a consensus on the importance of monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) during neurosurgery, and this monitoring reduces mortality during procedures. Current knowledge of ICP and cerebrospinal fluid pulse pressure has been built thanks to more than two centuries of research on brain dynamics.

Methods: Articles and books were selected using the descriptors "ICP," "cerebrospinal fluid pulse," "monitoring," "Monro-Kellie doctrine," and "ICP waveform" in electronic databases PubMed, Lilacs, Science Direct, and EMBASE.

Results: Several anatomists and physiologists have helped clarify the patterns of intracranial volumes under normal and pathological conditions. Monro-Kellie doctrine was an important step in a story that is reconstructed in this article. Through documentary research, we report the contribution of important medical figures, such as Monro, Kellie, Abercrombie, Burrows, Cushing, Langfitt, Marmarou, and other physiologists and anatomists who left their marks on the history of Medicine.

Conclusion: Understanding intracranial dynamics is an unfinished historical construction. Current knowledge is the result of two centuries of research that began with the investigations of Alexander Monro secundus.

Keywords: Cerebrospinal fluid pulse pressure; History of medicine; Intracranial pressure.

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Conflict of interest statement

There are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
Evolution of Monro-Kellie doctrine. At the top of the figure Monro secundus, followed by, respectively, Kellie, Abercrombie, Burrows and Cushing. The authors’ contribution to the Monro-Kellie doctrine is highlighted.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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