Cerebral Perfusion Pressure

Excerpt

Cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP) is the net pressure gradient that drives oxygen delivery to cerebral tissue. It is the difference between the mean arterial pressure (MAP) and the intracranial pressure (ICP), measured in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). Maintaining appropriate CPP is critical in managing patients with intracranial pathology, including traumatic brain injury, and with hemodynamic distress, such as shock. Normal CPP lies between 60 and 80 mm Hg, but these values can shift to the left or right depending on individual patient physiology. As CPP is a calculated measure, MAP and ICP must be measured simultaneously, most commonly by invasive means. Maintaining adequate CPP in clinical situations of intracranial pathology with deranged ICP or hemodynamically unstable conditions will decrease the risk of ischemic brain injury.