Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Off Topic Any MDs around?

Hi everyone,

I just have a medical question. It may sound silly, but I hope you'll be able to help me.

I'd like to know if a brain double oedema is somehow curable (if yes, how) or if it's certain death for the patient. And if yes, does it take long? does the person suffer? Are there pre-symptoms?

Thanks a lot,

Carole

Ummm, 8 months shy of having my MD, so I hope I count.

Not exactly sure what you mean by "brain double oedema", but I'll answer it from several angles and hope that one of them works for you.

I'm gonna assume that you mean just generalized diffuse edema (swelling) of the brain, which can be from multiple sources including head trauma and strokes and such... (if I'm wrong, stop me now.) <g>

If it's from a head trauma and there's localized bleeding that's putting pressure on the brain, they can surgically (drill hole) remove the blood clot, and hopefully the bleeding stops. Then there's the issue of swelling - whether from trauma or whatever. If the swelling is severe enough then we have a couple of medications that can be used in bad situations to try to decrease the swelling emergently - mainly Mannitol.
The problem is being careful to balance the fluid volume - most of the fluid/swelling in the brain is from leaking from the blood vessels. You want to get rid of the fluid on the brain tissue, but at the same time keep the blood pressure high enough that it can still supply the brain with enough oxygen - otherwise big trouble, and the swelling's the least of it.

If the swelling is not severe enough, a lot of the time we will just watch it and try to determine if it's improving by the patient's level of consciousness/responsiveness, and sometimes by tests like CAT scans and MRIs.

The swelling can be bad enough, and depending on the cause of the swelling, to cause death. But just the presence of edema in the brain is not a death sentence.

As for how long recovery takes...depends on the cause and severity. Little strokes - people can recover completely in a day or two. Severe traumas can take weeks, possibly a couple months before significant recovery occurs. Infectious stuff with fevers and such, that'll depend on how quickly the infection goes away and may be days to a couple weeks.

Hope this was helpful. If you have any other questions, please ask. If this was completely the wrong subject from what you wanted - ignore this post, hit me with a 2-by-4 and reask the question. <g>

Jill

no stopping you so far.

really? geez, that's such a relief! But the nurse made it sound so like 'the end of the world'. I think I'm gonna rip someone's head off.

PS: Me relying on violence? no way! At least not physically ---> I know what you're thinking. But nurse's beheading doesn't qualify.