Cerebral edema is the accumulation of excess fluid within the brain tissue, causing it to swell. This swelling increases pressure inside the skull, which can compress brain structures and reduce blood flow. On neonatal cranial ultrasound, cerebral edema may manifest as diffuse increased echogenicity of the brain parenchyma, loss of the normal distinction between gray and white matter, slit-like compressed ventricles, and loss of the normal sulcal pattern. Cerebral edema can occur after hypoxic-ischemic events, trauma, infection, or metabolic disturbances, and its detection on ultrasound is important because it indicates significant brain injury requiring urgent medical intervention.
Sonography Term