Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension-A Comparison of Clinical Characteristics Between 4 Medical Centers in Different Geographic Regions of the World.
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a well-characterized syndrome, most commonly affecting obese women of childbearing age. Differences in its prevalence have been reported in various populations. The aim of this article was to determine whether differences in clinical presentation and management exist for patients with IIH between different regions the world.



Retrospective database analysis of adult patients with IIH from 4 different neuro-ophthalmology clinics. The data collected included gender, age of onset, body mass index (BMI), lumbar puncture opening pressure, initial visual acuity (VA), initial visual field (VF) mean deviation (MD), pharmacological or surgical treatment, length of follow-up, final VA, and final VF MD.



The study population consisted of 244 patients, with significant regional variations of female to male ratio. Overall, there was no significant difference regarding the age of diagnosis or the BMI. Acetazolamide was the first line of treatment in all groups but there was a difference between countries regarding second-line treatment, including the use of surgical interventions. Mean initial VA differed between groups but the final change in VA was the same among all the study groups.



There are differences in IIH presentation, treatment, and response to therapy among different countries. International prospective studies involving multiple centers are needed to determine the potential influence of environmental and genetic factors on the development of IIH and to improve the management of this potentially blinding disorder.
Department of Ophthalmology (AR, A. Klein, A. Kesler), Tel Aviv-Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel; Hôpital Ophtalmique JulesGonin (SR, F-XB), University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; Centro Hospitalar de Vila Nova de Gaia/Espinho (DM), Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal; Centro Hospitalar de S. João (MS), Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; and Department of Neurology, Ege University Medical School (FG, NÇ), Bornova, İzmir, Turkey.
Amir
A
Rosenblatt
Ainat
A
Klein
Ségolène
S
Roemer
François-Xavier
FX
Borruat
Dália
D
Meira
Marta
M
Silva
Figen
F
Gökçay
Neşe
N
Çelebisoy
Anat
A
Kesler
D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007427:Intracranial Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D007557:Israel / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011559:Pseudotumor Cerebri / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013129:Spinal Puncture; D013557:Switzerland / Q000453:epidemiology; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014794:Visual Fields / Q000502:physiology*