[Loss of consciousness during benign intracranial hypertension. Correlations between cerebrospinal fluid pressure and the electroencephalogram].

A patient with benign intracranial hypertension developed paroxysmal attacks of falling due to loss of consciousness. Prolonged simultaneous recordings of CSF pressure, through a lumbar needle, and of EEG showed that these episodes resulted from bouts of elevation of CSF pressure (120 mm Hg systolic pressure). The pathophysiology of the increased pressure waves, described as Lundberg 's A waves or plateau waves, is discussed. The analogy between EEG records and those observed in normal subjects during Valsalva's manoeuvre is a further argument in favor of cerebral anoxia during the increased pressure plateau, this being apparently the explanation for the clinical disorders.