PLEASE HELP! Edema of the head? dad in the hospital

[lalapple]

i'm from a different community but this really need help right now.  my dad went to China to visit  my grandpa last week and is now in the hospital there after going to the emergency room for feeling faint and massive headache.  from doc dx from CT scan shows slight edema of head.  he's on and off on IV and is going to have something associated with bone marrow drawn today.  could this be due to altitude caused edema since he was on the plane for about 20 hrs?  PLEASE if you have any idea of what is going on, please help and provide me with some information.  i need to know what's going on.  i'm currently on chemotherapy and my mom will be flying to him tomorrow  

[lalapple]

thanks doctor for responding in the time of need.  he just had a lumbar puncture yesterday and is still on IV.

[lalapple]

thanks doctor for responding in the time of need.

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Thanks for writing in.

Brain edema or cerebral edema occurs due to excess accumulation of water in the brain. It can occur due to many causes. One of which is high altitude cerebral edema which can be the cause in your father’s case as he was on a long flight. Other causes include brain tumors, malignant hypertension and hydrocephalus.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebral_edema

I can understand what you must be going through but it is really difficult to give more information without knowing the complete medical history of the patient.

Regards