Prof. Marek Czosnyka

Professor Emeritus of Brain Physics, Division of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, UK

Lecture Title: What is certain and uncertain in hydrocephalus from CSF dynamics perspective.

Last 34 years (from 1991) I spent in Cambridge, U.K. where I gained experience in setting up and steering large scale scientific projects. I have been conducting studies on methodology, clinical applications and models in clinical and experimental neuroscience aimed at autoregulation of cerebral blood flow and cerebrospinal dynamics (with special attention to dynamics of Intracranial Pressure), publishing over 800 papers in scientific press. I focused on interactions between intracranial pressure, cerebral autoregulation, and cerebral blood flow. I started with organizing computer-assisted bed-side monitoring of ICP in a neurological critical care 4-beds unit and a mobile trolley for computerized infusion tests to diagnose patients with hydrocephalus. Gradually, I extended our system to multimodal bed-side monitoring (including cerebral blood flow, brain oxygenation, microdialysis). Now these systems are in daily use in a 21-bed Neuro-Critical Care Unit controlling modern bed-side monitoring facilities. I supervise and co-ordinate a variety of scientific projects being conducted there (for PhD students and visiting scholars).

My two most important scientific achievements include:

• Building a system for diagnosing based on mathematical modelling of CSF dynamics leading to clinical tests able to differentiate brain atrophy and remediable hydrocephalus
• Invention of methods for the continuous assessment of cerebral autoregulation and cerebrovascular reactivity including tracing optimal cerebral perfusion pressure.