Figure 2

Intracranial pressure curve in conditions of normal and reduced compliance. Valuable information on intracranial buffering mechanisms can be extracted from the shape of the curves: when all normal components (peaks) of the intracranial pressure (ICP) curve are clearly evident (left panel), the intracranial system is behaving normally and small increases in volume can still be compensated for. However, when a P2-predominant pattern is displayed (right panel), the intracranial system is less compliant and compensatory abilities are reduced.