Are the systemic arterial blood, intracranial and intraocular pressures co-regulated?

Abstract

In this chapter, the physiological maintenance of intracranial pressure (ICP) andintraocular pressure (IOP) and their pathophysiological aspects are presented withemphasis on glaucoma and head trauma as two conditions associated respectively with elavated IOP and ICP. At the end, emphasis is placed on the hypothesis that systemicarterial blood, intracranial, and intraocular pressures are co-regulated. It is known that thecerebral and ocular blood flows are autoregulated over a range of systemic bloodpressures. When this autoregulation is impaired under pathological circumstances, ICPand IOP become functions of systemic blood pressure (SBP). Recent evidence indicatesthat a common vascular mechanism controls ICP, IOP and systemic arterial bloodpressure even in healthy individuals. An improved understanding of the co-regulatorymechanism could help to elucidate various ocular and neurological pathologies and theirrelationship with the systemic vasculopathies. To what extent and under whichcircumstances SBP, ICP and IOP can affect each other should be explored in detail. é 2013 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.