Cerebral edema
Cerebral edema is excess fluid within brain tissue that enlarges the brain and can raise pressure inside the skull.
Blood–brain barrier: A selective interface between blood and brain tissue that regulates the movement of substances into the central nervous system. Damage to this barrier lets fluid and proteins leak into brain tissue, producing vasogenic edema.
Ischemic stroke: Brain injury caused by interrupted blood flow from an obstructed artery. Energy failure after an ischemic stroke causes cytotoxic swelling, which may later include vascular leakage.
Intracranial pressure: The pressure exerted by brain tissue, blood, and cerebrospinal fluid within the skull. As edema consumes limited space, intracranial pressure can rise and reduce brain perfusion.
Neuroimaging: Medical imaging methods used to visualize the brain and nervous system. CT and MRI help detect swelling, identify its pattern, and reveal possible causes.
Cerebral hyperemia: An increase in blood volume or blood flow within the brain. Hyperemia raises cerebral blood volume, whereas edema is excess fluid in brain tissue.
Vasogenic edema: Brain swelling caused by leakage of fluid through a disrupted blood–brain barrier into extracellular spaces. This is the common edema pattern around tumors and areas of inflammation.
Glioblastoma: An aggressive adult brain cancer arising from glial-lineage cells. Tumor vessels disrupt the blood–brain barrier and often cause surrounding vasogenic edema.
Cerebral perfusion pressure: The pressure gradient that drives blood flow through the brain, usually estimated from arterial and intracranial pressures. Rising intracranial pressure can lower this gradient and threaten brain oxygen delivery.
Computed tomography: An imaging method that reconstructs cross-sectional views from measurements of X-ray attenuation. CT is often used urgently to assess swelling, bleeding, and mass effect.
Hydrocephalus: Abnormal accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid within the brain's ventricles or related spaces. Hydrocephalus concerns cerebrospinal fluid spaces; cerebral edema concerns fluid within brain tissue.