No correlation between intraocular pressure and intracranial pressure

Abstract

A recent study has reported an excellent correlation between intraocular pressure (IOP) and intracranial pressure (ICP), suggesting that measurement of IOP may serve as a noninvasive means to determine ICP. To reexamine the relation between IOP and ICP, we reviewed the medical records of all patients who underwent lumbar puncture between 1991 and 2007 in the neuro-ophthalmology clinic at the University of California San Francisco. Data for IOP and ICP were available for 55 patients. There was no correlation between IOP and ICP (Pearson correlation coefficient, r = 0.07; p = 0.59). IOP measurement is not a useful substitute for ICP measurement.