Q: What are the plateau waves in ICP monitoring?

Answer: Normal ICP wave form has 3 upstrokes - P1, P2 and P3. Presence of Plateau waves, also called Lundberg A waves are clinically significant and represent very high ICP or very advanced intracranial hypertension. Plateau waves come as steep increases in ICP lasting for 5 to 10 minutes. They are always pathological and indicative of probable early brain herniation.This waveform is seen in a patient with an ICP 50 – 100 mm Hg