Remarks on Amplitude — Pressure Characteristic Phenomenon

A pulse wave is the most characteristic component of the intracranial pressure (ICP) signal. Many authors have devoted their work to questions concerning its mechanisms and clinical validation, however, most of these questions remain still open. It should also be emphasized, that almost all the theoretical works dealing with the cerebrospinal space model except a few (Hoffmann 1985, Sorak 1986) do not discuss the phenomenon of pulsatile changes of cerebral blood volume (CBV). The model introduced by Marmarou (1976) describes only the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulation and phenomena concerning the CSF container such as infusion or bolus tests, but cerebral blood flow (CBF) is not included in the model. Therefore, the amplitude-pressure (AMP-P) characteristic cannot be explained in the same way as a linear relationship between the cerebrospinal elastance and the pressure level.