Edema and swelling of the brain: a non-systematic review

Abstract

Annotation. Edema and swelling of the brain are two stages of the development of complex interrelated processes in the brain substance. This pathological process occurs due to various etiological factors: brain injury, stroke, brain tumors and abscesses, meningitis and encephalitis, hypoxia, general toxicosis, infectious processes, body burns, occlusive hydrocephalus, malignant hypertension, osmotic imbalance. That is why the purpose of this review was the systematization of current and modern scientific sources of literature related to the topic of cerebral edema. The analysis of scientific articles and materials in the scientometric databases UpToDate, MEDLINE (PubMed), ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Google Scholar devoted to the coverage of this problem was performed. The article deals with the issues of etiology, classification, pathogenesis of edema-swelling of the brain. The types of edema-swelling are considered in detail, including a description of its rare subtypes. Macro- and microscopic changes, which are typical for edema and swelling of the brain, are described separately. The peculiarities of therapeutic tactics in the treatment of edema-swelling, considering its pathomorphological aspects, are specified.