Intrahemispheric gradients of brain tissue pressure in patients with brain tumours.

The authors report on 14 patients in whom cerebral tissue pressure was recorded after operation for brain tumours. Cerebral tissue pressure was recorded by a 5 French catheter with two microtransducers. The transducers were placed intraoperatively in the wall of the tumour cavity and in a distance of approximately 2.5 cm. Differences between both pressures from 4 to 28 mmHg were observed. They were higher in patients with glioblastomas and meningiomas than in patients with intracranial metastases. In 7 patients proximal tissue pressure was higher than distal. In 4 patients the contrary was observed. Discussing the literature the authors think intrahemispheric changes of brain water content, blood flow, and brain tissue elastance to be responsible for this phenomenon.