congestion of the brain

{{Short description|Obsolete medical term}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}

"Congestion of the brain" and "cerebral congestion" were medical terms used before hypertension was understood. The term was first proposed by Dr. von Basch in the nineteenth century and was widely used for the next 150 years, and had a major influence on the treatment of stroke. It was used for what are now known to be cerebral haemorrhage, lacunes, état criblé (widened perivascular spaces throughout the basal ganglia, particularly in the corpus striatum{{cite journal | last=Sutcliffe | first=Liam | last2=Woods | first2=Kate | last3=Soo | first3=May Jan | last4=Harrison | first4=Thomas | title=État criblé: an incidental finding on CT brain in acute COVID-19 | journal=BMJ Case Reports | publisher=BMJ | volume=15 | issue=3 | year=2022 | issn=1757-790X | doi=10.1136/bcr-2021-246238 | doi-access=free | page=e246238 | url=https://casereports.bmj.com/content/bmjcr/15/3/e246238.full.pdf}}), depression, manic outbursts, headaches, coma, and seizures. It was said to be "more common... than any other affliction of the nervous system."{{cite journal | last=Román | first=Gustavo C. | title=Cerebral Congestion | journal=Archives of Neurology | publisher=American Medical Association (AMA) | volume=44 | issue=4 | date=1 April 1987 | issn=0003-9942 | doi=10.1001/archneur.1987.00520160074018 | page=444}} The concept fell out of use with advances in medicine.