Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Jul;9(4):317-26.
doi: 10.1177/1756285616635987. Epub 2016 Mar 21.

The diagnosis and management of idiopathic intracranial hypertension and the associated headache

Rigmor Højland Jensen  1 , Aleksandra Radojicic  2 , Hanne Yri  3
Affiliations
Review

The diagnosis and management of idiopathic intracranial hypertension and the associated headache

Rigmor Højland Jensen et al. Ther Adv Neurol Disord. 2016 Jul.

Abstract

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a challenging disorder with a rapid increasing incidence due to a close relation to obesity. The onset of symptoms is often insidious and patients may see many different specialists before the IIH diagnosis is settled. A summary of diagnosis, symptoms, headache characteristics and course, as well as existing evidence of treatment strategies is presented and strategies for investigations and management are proposed.

Keywords: acetazolamide; headache; idiopathic intracranial hypertension; visual loss.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest statement: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Percentage of patients and their presenting symptoms in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, modified from Wall and colleagues [Wall et al. 2014a].
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Proposal of a diagnostic work-up and strategy in patients with possible idiopathic intracranial hypertension.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Proposal of a stratified treatment strategy for idiopathic intracranial hypertension according to symptom severity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ahmed R., Wilkinson M., Parker G., Thurtell M., Macdonald J., McCluskey P., et al. (2011) Transverse sinus stenting for idiopathic intracranial hypertension: a review of 52 patients and of model predictions. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol 32: 1408–1414. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alsuhaibani A., Carter K., Nerad J., Lee A. (2011) Effect of optic nerve sheath fenestration on papilledema of the operated and the contralateral nonoperated eyes in idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Ophthalmology 118: 412–414. - PubMed
    1. Ball A., Howman A., Wheatley K., Burdon M., Matthews T., Jacks A., et al. (2011) A randomised controlled trial of treatment for idiopathic intracranial hypertension. J Neurol 258: 874–881. - PubMed
    1. Best J., Silvestri G., Burton B., Foot B., Acheson J. (2013) The Incidence of Blindness Due to Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension in the UK. Open Ophthalmol J 7: 26–29. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Biousse V., Ameri A., Bousser M. (1999) Isolated intracranial hypertension as the only sign of cerebral venous thrombosis. Neurology 53: 1537–1542. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources