Ultrasound non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care: A prospective observational study.

<h4>Background</h4>The invasive nature of the current methods for monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) has prevented their use in many clinical situations. Several attempts have been made to develop methods to monitor ICP non-invasively. The aim of this study is to assess the relati...

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Main Authors: Chiara Robba, Danilo Cardim, Tamara Tajsic, Justine Pietersen, Michael Bulman, Joseph Donnelly, Andrea Lavinio, Arun Gupta, David K Menon, Peter J A Hutchinson, Marek Czosnyka
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-07-01
Series:PLoS Medicine
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002356&type=printable
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author Chiara Robba
Danilo Cardim
Tamara Tajsic
Justine Pietersen
Michael Bulman
Joseph Donnelly
Andrea Lavinio
Arun Gupta
David K Menon
Peter J A Hutchinson
Marek Czosnyka
author_facet Chiara Robba
Danilo Cardim
Tamara Tajsic
Justine Pietersen
Michael Bulman
Joseph Donnelly
Andrea Lavinio
Arun Gupta
David K Menon
Peter J A Hutchinson
Marek Czosnyka
author_sort Chiara Robba
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>The invasive nature of the current methods for monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) has prevented their use in many clinical situations. Several attempts have been made to develop methods to monitor ICP non-invasively. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between ultrasound-based non-invasive ICP (nICP) and invasive ICP measurement in neurocritical care patients.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>This was a prospective, single-cohort observational study of patients admitted to a tertiary neurocritical care unit. Patients with brain injury requiring invasive ICP monitoring were considered for inclusion. nICP was assessed using optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD), venous transcranial Doppler (vTCD) of straight sinus systolic flow velocity (FVsv), and methods derived from arterial transcranial Doppler (aTCD) on the middle cerebral artery (MCA): MCA pulsatility index (PIa) and an estimator based on diastolic flow velocity (FVd). A total of 445 ultrasound examinations from 64 patients performed from 1 January to 1 November 2016 were included. The median age of the patients was 53 years (range 37-64). Median Glasgow Coma Scale at admission was 7 (range 3-14), and median Glasgow Outcome Scale was 3 (range 1-5). The mortality rate was 20%. ONSD and FVsv demonstrated the strongest correlation with ICP (R = 0.76 for ONSD versus ICP; R = 0.72 for FVsv versus ICP), whereas PIa and the estimator based on FVd did not correlate with ICP significantly. Combining the 2 strongest nICP predictors (ONSD and FVsv) resulted in an even stronger correlation with ICP (R = 0.80). The ability to detect intracranial hypertension (ICP ≥ 20 mm Hg) was highest for ONSD (area under the curve [AUC] 0.91, 95% CI 0.88-0.95). The combination of ONSD and FVsv methods showed a statistically significant improvement of AUC values compared with the ONSD method alone (0.93, 95% CI 0.90-0.97, p = 0.01). Major limitations are the heterogeneity and small number of patients included in this study, the need for specialised training to perform and interpret the ultrasound tests, and the variability in performance among different ultrasound operators.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Of the studied ultrasound nICP methods, ONSD is the best estimator of ICP. The novel combination of ONSD ultrasonography and vTCD of the straight sinus is a promising and easily available technique for identifying critically ill patients with intracranial hypertension.
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spelling doaj-art-f4bd227d2f3c414da74c23bf142ee9bf2025-08-20T03:44:38ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Medicine1549-12771549-16762017-07-01147e100235610.1371/journal.pmed.1002356Ultrasound non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care: A prospective observational study.Chiara RobbaDanilo CardimTamara TajsicJustine PietersenMichael BulmanJoseph DonnellyAndrea LavinioArun GuptaDavid K MenonPeter J A HutchinsonMarek Czosnyka<h4>Background</h4>The invasive nature of the current methods for monitoring of intracranial pressure (ICP) has prevented their use in many clinical situations. Several attempts have been made to develop methods to monitor ICP non-invasively. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between ultrasound-based non-invasive ICP (nICP) and invasive ICP measurement in neurocritical care patients.<h4>Methods and findings</h4>This was a prospective, single-cohort observational study of patients admitted to a tertiary neurocritical care unit. Patients with brain injury requiring invasive ICP monitoring were considered for inclusion. nICP was assessed using optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD), venous transcranial Doppler (vTCD) of straight sinus systolic flow velocity (FVsv), and methods derived from arterial transcranial Doppler (aTCD) on the middle cerebral artery (MCA): MCA pulsatility index (PIa) and an estimator based on diastolic flow velocity (FVd). A total of 445 ultrasound examinations from 64 patients performed from 1 January to 1 November 2016 were included. The median age of the patients was 53 years (range 37-64). Median Glasgow Coma Scale at admission was 7 (range 3-14), and median Glasgow Outcome Scale was 3 (range 1-5). The mortality rate was 20%. ONSD and FVsv demonstrated the strongest correlation with ICP (R = 0.76 for ONSD versus ICP; R = 0.72 for FVsv versus ICP), whereas PIa and the estimator based on FVd did not correlate with ICP significantly. Combining the 2 strongest nICP predictors (ONSD and FVsv) resulted in an even stronger correlation with ICP (R = 0.80). The ability to detect intracranial hypertension (ICP ≥ 20 mm Hg) was highest for ONSD (area under the curve [AUC] 0.91, 95% CI 0.88-0.95). The combination of ONSD and FVsv methods showed a statistically significant improvement of AUC values compared with the ONSD method alone (0.93, 95% CI 0.90-0.97, p = 0.01). Major limitations are the heterogeneity and small number of patients included in this study, the need for specialised training to perform and interpret the ultrasound tests, and the variability in performance among different ultrasound operators.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Of the studied ultrasound nICP methods, ONSD is the best estimator of ICP. The novel combination of ONSD ultrasonography and vTCD of the straight sinus is a promising and easily available technique for identifying critically ill patients with intracranial hypertension.https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002356&type=printable
spellingShingle Chiara Robba
Danilo Cardim
Tamara Tajsic
Justine Pietersen
Michael Bulman
Joseph Donnelly
Andrea Lavinio
Arun Gupta
David K Menon
Peter J A Hutchinson
Marek Czosnyka
Ultrasound non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care: A prospective observational study.
PLoS Medicine
title Ultrasound non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care: A prospective observational study.
title_full Ultrasound non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care: A prospective observational study.
title_fullStr Ultrasound non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care: A prospective observational study.
title_full_unstemmed Ultrasound non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care: A prospective observational study.
title_short Ultrasound non-invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care: A prospective observational study.
title_sort ultrasound non invasive measurement of intracranial pressure in neurointensive care a prospective observational study
url https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1002356&type=printable
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