Abstract
Professor Sérgio Mascarenhas was a Brazilian researcher with a vast legacy. His work paved the way for new research possibilities by consolidating the use of innovation and transdisciplinary science. In Medicine, he proposed changes to what had previously been well-accepted concepts, and his contributions have influenced medical practices. Although many authors consider intracranial pressure (ICP) as an unrivaled variable for monitoring and diagnosis of many diseases, its clinical applicability is still the subject of debate in the literature because of the difficulty in standardizing protocols. Mascarenhas's research and the creation of a device for noninvasive monitoring of intracranial compliance are discussed and are shown to have led to the creation of Brain4care, a start-up, and a new perspective on the debate on ICP monitoring.
Highlights
Professor Sérgio Mascarenhas (May 2, 1928–May 31, 2021), a former professor at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and one of the founders of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar) and the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa)[1], was an influential researcher in the field of Health Sciences, and his contribution to this area is set to change the history of Medicine (Figure 1)
An initial diagnostic hypothesis for his clinical condition was parkinsonian dementia, no drug treatment was started, and after a year spent in seeking confirmation of this diagnosis, Mascarenhas learned that he had normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH)[1]
While the classic triad of NPH consists of gait and balance disturbances, changes in urinary control, and cognitive disorders, in the parkinsonian presentation of NPH, cognitive abnormalities have been reported to predominate over motor symptoms in about 30% of patients
Summary
Professor Sérgio Mascarenhas (May 2, 1928–May 31, 2021), a former professor at the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and one of the founders of the Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCar) and the Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (Embrapa)[1], was an influential researcher in the field of Health Sciences, and his contribution to this area is set to change the history of Medicine (Figure 1). The treatment chosen for Mascarenhas’s condition was a neurosurgical correction of the hydrocephalus with the placement of a ventriculoperitoneal shunt and drainage of excess cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Having used his experience to investigate the existing technologies for monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP), Mascarenhas was surprised to find that the only methods that had been validated were invasive ones. Mascarenhas started a study that led to the development of a device that would influence medical practice and to the changes in what had previously been well-established concepts. From his diagnosis to the development of the device, this Brazilian scientist traveled a long, arduous, yet undoubtedly brilliant path, and today the fruits of his phenomenal work are being reaped. The CSF tap test, a less invasive method, is used widely in the clinical environment to determine ICP (cmH2O)[7-10]
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