Cushing's Triad - Significance

Significance

Identification of the triad is important in emergency medicine because it suggests severe pressure within the cranial vault. This can be the result of cerebral hemorrhage, possibly due to a ruptured aneurysm or other cerebrovascular accident (a hemorrhagic stroke) or head trauma resulting in contusion and associated intracranial bleeding either within or outside the meninges (a subdural or epidural hemorrhage). It can also be due to an enlarging space-occupying lesion (a brain tumor). All of these events lead to the possibility of brain herniation, which can be rapidly fatal.