Closing Discussion: “Where Have We Been, Where are We Now, and Where Do We Go From Here?”

The title assigned to me for this summary is both challenging and appropriate. I will not spend much time on where we have been, because most of you are well aware of the modern history of ICP investigations. I will say that twenty years ago we were nowhere. JANNY had published an important paper on continuous recording of ICP in man, and LUNDBERG’S first paper on ICP recordings was published in 1959. Ten years ago only a handful of neurosurgeons were recording ICP routinely in an attempt to unravel the pathophysiology of intracranial hypertension and better manage their patients. It is probably true that at the moment, as we conclude this symposium, several hundred patients are having their ICP monitored throughout the world, a demonstration that the usefulness of ICP recording has now been established in the minds of a large number of neurosurgeons.