Cerebral edema early stroke or hypoxia, cardiac arrest, and pseudotumor cerebri. During an ischemic stroke, a lack of oxygen and glucose leads to a breakdown of the sodium-calcium pumps on brain cell membranes, which in turn results in a massive buildup of sodium and calcium intracellularly. This causes a rapid uptake of water and subsequent swelling of the cells. It is this swelling of the individual cells of the brain that is seen as the main distinguishing characteristic of cytotoxic edema, as opposed to vasogenic edema, wherein the influx of fluid is typically seen in the interstitial space rather than within the
Edema in hydrostatic pressure occurs in cardiac failure. A fall in osmotic pressure occurs in nephrotic syndrome and liver failure. Causes of edema which are generalized to the whole body can cause edema in multiple organs and peripherally. For example, severe heart failure can cause pulmonary edema, pleural effusions, ascites and peripheral edema. Such severe systemic edema is called anasarca. In rare cases, a Parvovirus B19 infection may cause generalized edemas. Although a low plasma oncotic pressure is widely cited for the edema of nephrotic syndrome, most physicians note that the edema may occur before there is any significant protein in