Lithium-induced headache

Abstract

A 23-year old woman developed headache and papilledema due to benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) while taking lithium carbonate for only seven months because of manic-depressive disease. Having discarded other causes, drug ingestion was the most likely etiology of the syndrome since it was observed that symptoms improved upon lithium withdrawal and worsened when the treatment was restarted. This report shows that BIH may appear as a side-effect of relatively short-term therapy with lithium and, therefore, funduscopic exams should be performed in every patient receiving this drug.