Our brain is a vital organ that regulates the functions of different parts of our body. Sometimes, excessive fluids accumulate inside the brain tissue. At such time, the water retention leads to brain swelling or cerebral oedema.
The underlying causes of this brain swelling varies. It occurs primarily due to injury to the brain itself, such as stroke or traumatic brain injury, leading to disruption of blood brain barrier. Several other mechanisms such as local inflammation, changes in blood supply or altered cellular mechanisms can also lead to swelling of the brain.
“Various health conditions such as low blood sodium (hyponatremia), increased antidiuretic hormone secretion and liver cirrhosis can cause the swelling of brain”, says Dr Vidyashankar P, Lead Consultant-Nephrology, Aster CMI Hospital, Bengaluru. The accumulation of fluid takes place either within brain cells or in extracellular spaces. Swelling can be localized in a particular area of brain, or it can be diffused throughout.
Our brain is present inside the skull, which is a rigid, non-extensible chamber. Brain swelling leads to compression of the brain inside the rigid skull, causing increase in intracranial pressure or increase in pressure in the skull. The brain swelling causes symptoms such as headache, delirium (state of confusion), nausea and vomiting. Further, it can rapidly progress to uncontrollable shaking of limbs (convulsions), seizures, coma, respiratory arrest and brain stem herniation (protrusion of the brain through skull orifices) or if unchecked, turn fatal.
The following infographic describes the different conditions that can cause swelling of brain:
