Empty sella syndrome as complication of benign intracranial hypertension

Abstract

An empty sella was demonstrated on air study in five patients with the benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) syndrome. All patients had a protracted course and very high cerebrospinal fluid pressure; two required a shunt procedure. No patient had any endocrine symptoms or visual field defects but an air study was done to exclude a mass lesion in the sella region. Among the last 50 patients seen with the BIH syndrome, there were five cases of an associated empty sella (10%). In these cases, the empty sella is a probable consequence of the long-standing intracranial hypertension associated with a congenital deficiency of the diaphragma sellae.