Transcranial optical monitoring for detecting intracranial pressure alterations in children with benign external hydrocephalus: a proof-of-concept study

Significance: Benign external hydrocephalus (BEH) is considered a self-limiting pathology with a good prognosis. However, some children present a pathological intracranial pressure (ICP) characterized by quantitative and qualitative alterations (the so-called B-waves) that can lead to neurological sequelae. Aim: Our purpose was to evaluate whether there were cerebral hemodynamic changes associated with ICP B-waves that could be evaluated with noninvasive neuromonitoring. Approach: We recruited eleven patients (median age 16 months, range 7 to 55 months) with BEH and an unfavorable evolution requiring ICP monitoring. Bedside, nocturnal monitoring using near-infrared time-resolved and diffuse correlation spectroscopies synchronized to the clinical monitoring was performed. Results: By focusing on the timing of different ICP patterns that were identified manually by clinicians, we detected significant tissue oxygen saturation (StO(2)) changes (p = 0.002) and blood flow index (BFI) variability (p = 0.005) between regular and high-amplitude B-wave patterns. A blinded analysis looking for analogs of ICP patterns in BFI time traces achieved 90% sensitivity in identifying B-waves and 76% specificity in detecting the regular patterns. Conclusions: We revealed the presence of StO2 and BFI variations-detectable with optical techniques-during ICP B-waves in BEH children. Finally, the feasibility of detecting ICP B-waves in hemodynamic time traces obtained noninvasively was shown. (c) The Authors. Published by SPIE under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Distribution or reproduction of this work in whole or in part requires full attribution of the original publication, including its DOI.

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate whether there were cerebral hemodynamic changes associated with intracranial pressure (ICP) B-waves that could be evaluated with noninvasive neuromonitoring.