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Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter is not Related to Intracranial Pressure in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients

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A Letters to the editor to this article was published on 21 September 2020

A Response to Letter To The Editor to this article was published on 21 September 2020

A Response to Letter To The Editor to this article was published on 17 July 2020

A Letters to the editor to this article was published on 17 July 2020

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Abstract

Background

Intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring is essential after subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) to prevent secondary brain insults and to tailor individualized treatments. Optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD), measured using ultrasound (US), could serve as a noninvasive bedside tool to estimate ICP, avoiding the risks of hemorrhage or infection related to intracranial catheters. The aims of this study were twofold: first, to explore the reliability of US for measuring ONSD; second, to establish whether the US-ONSD can be considered a proxy for ICP in SAH patients early after bleeding. For the first aim, we compared the ONSD measurements given by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI-ONSD) with the US-ONSD findings. For the second aim, we analyzed the relationship between US-ONSD measurements and ICP values.

Methods

Adult patients with diagnosis of aneurysmal SAH and external ventricular drainage system (EVD) were included. Ten patients were examined by MRI to assess ONSD, and the results were compared to the diameter given by US. In 20 patients, the US-ONSD values were related to ICP measured simultaneously through EVD. In ten of these patients, we explored the changes in the US-ONSD at the time of controlled and fairly rapid changes in ICP after cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage.

Results

US-ONSD measurements at the bedside were accurate, very similar to the diameters measured by MRI (the mean difference in the Bland–Altman plot was 0.08 mm, 95% limits of agreement: − 1.13; + 1.23 mm). No clear relationship was detectable between the ICP and US-ONSD, and a linear regression model showed an angular coefficient very close to 0 (p > 0.05). US-ONSD and ICP values were in agreement after CSF drainage and shifts in ICP in a limited number of patients.

Conclusions

US-ONSD measurement does not accurately estimate ICP in SAH patients in the intensive care unit.

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Acknowledgements

The authors appreciate the support of Dr. Luca Neri and Dr. Carmela Graci who offered their help for ultrasound training. The authors are grateful for the cooperation of Dr. Alessandra Merrino who helped in the acquisition of data and for the support of Dr. EJA Wiegers who helped in data analysis.

Funding

Support was provided by funds from Ricerca Corrente of Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico.

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Author notes

  1. Tommaso Zoerle and Alessio Caccioppola have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy

    Tommaso Zoerle, Alessio Caccioppola, Eleonora D’Angelo, Marco Carbonara, Tatiana Birg, Fabrizio Ortolano & Nino Stocchetti

  2. Department of Neuroradiology, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy

    Giorgio Conte, Sabrina Avignone & Fabio Triulzi

  3. Department of Neuroscience, Istituto di Ricerche Farmacologiche Mario Negri IRCCS, Milan, Italy

    Elisa R. Zanier

  4. Department of Pathophysiology and Transplantation, University of Milan, Milan, Italy

    Fabio Triulzi & Nino Stocchetti

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  1. Tommaso Zoerle
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Contributions

NS, AC, TZ, and MC conceived and designed the study. AC, TZ, NS, ED, GC, SA, FT, and TB contributed to data analysis and interpretation. TZ, NS, AC, MC, FO, and ERZ critically revised the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tommaso Zoerle.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in relation to this manuscript.

Ethical approval/informed consent

The institutional review board of the hospital (Ethics Committee Milan, Zone 1) approved the study, and written consent was obtained according to the regulations applied in our Institution. Number: ATTI 774/2016 - 24.05.2016

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This work was performed at the Neuroscience Intensive Care Unit, Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care, Fondazione IRCCS Ca’ Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Milan, Italy.

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Zoerle, T., Caccioppola, A., D’Angelo, E. et al. Optic Nerve Sheath Diameter is not Related to Intracranial Pressure in Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Patients. Neurocrit Care 33, 491–498 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12028-020-00970-y

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