[Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a rare cause of headache in children]

Abstract

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is often believed to be an illness exclusively occurring in obese women in their twenties and thirties. This case describes a four-year-old boy presenting with headache, vomiting photophobia and double vision for six days. He did not have a fever; and all exams and tests, including a magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed normal values. During the eye examination, he was found to have bilateral papilloedema and when undergoing lumbar puncture an elevated pressure of 230 mm H(2)O was discovered. The patient was diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and treated with azetazolamide. Within few days, his symptoms disappeared.