[Usefulness of intracranial pressure monitoring and EEG analysis in a child with acute encephalitis].

The usefulness of continuous intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring and the correlation between ICP and electroencephalographic findings were investigated in a 6-year-old boy with acute encephalitis. On admission he was comatose in a decerebrate posture. ICP was continuously monitored by the epidural transducer and controlled with hyperventilation, fluid restriction and administration of mannitol, glycerol and pentobarbital to keep below 20 mm Hg. The inotropic agents such as dopamine and dobutamine were also given to maintain the cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) at 50 mm Hg or greater. At the same time with ICP monitoring, EEG records were obtained with scalp electrodes at monopolar T3-A1 and T4-A2 regions according to the 10-20 international system on an analog tape simultaneously with a data recorder. The records were digitized at 50 samples/sec, and the high-order auto-regressive (AR) power spectrum was calculated with a minicomputer PFU-1200 (Fujitsu Co Ltd.). At pressures greater than 25 mm Hg in ICP, the total power of the high-order AR activity of EEG was apparently decreased. The results indicated that the AR power spectral analysis of EEG is sensitive method for obtaining valuable information regarding the electrical brain activity and intracranial pressure.