[Benign intracranial hypertension. History, clinical features and treatment in a series of 41 patients].
BACKGROUND
Benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) is a syndrome characterized by the abnormal elevation of the intracranial pressure with a normal composition of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and in absence of ventriculomegaly or some intracranial expansive lesion.


OBJECTIVE
The present work seeks, by means of the analysis of diagnosed BIH patients to evaluate its epidemic, clinical and therapeutic features.


METHODS
87 histories from intracranial hypertension diagnosed patients with normal cerebral CT were reviewed, between 1999 and 2002. 41 BIH patients were selected.


RESULTS
The reached results allow us to draw the following profile, a woman (> 70%) of between 21 and 30 years (29%), smoker, obese (59%) with an recent increase of weight (37%) that consults after spending more than three months with headache (89%), alterations of the visual acuity (> 50%) and nauseas with some vomiting (> 40%). In the exploration, it presents with bilateral papilledema (100%), a CSF pressure bigger than 20 cmH2O (40,78 15,55 cmH2O) with normal composition, without alterations in the neuroradiological study results.


CONCLUSIONS
The treatment with acetazolamide was favourable (51,2%), being definitive (70%) the lumbar peritoneal shunt when it is specified (30,7%), being improved these figures in those patients with a smaller pressure of the CSF in the moment of the diagnosis (p<0,035).
Rodríguez de Rivera
F J
FJ
Hospital Universitario La Paz, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, España. rodriguezderivera@yahoo.es
Martínez-Sanchez
P
P
Ojeda-Ruiz de Luna
J
J
Arpa-Gutiérrez
F J
FJ
Barreiro-Tella
P
P
D000086:Acetazolamide / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002557:Cerebrospinal Fluid Shunts; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology; D010211:Papilledema / Q000209:etiology; D011559:Pseudotumor Cerebri / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D014839:Vomiting / Q000209:etiology
D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; D000086:Acetazolamide