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. 2023 Nov 22;13(12):1616.
doi: 10.3390/brainsci13121616.

Clinical Course and Ophthalmologic Findings in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension and Pregnancy

Theresia Knoche  1 , Leon Alexander Danyel  1 , Lisa Varlet  1 , Paula Haffner  1 , Mohammad Salim Alzureiqi  2 , Alexander Kowski  1 , Verena Gaus  1
Affiliations

Clinical Course and Ophthalmologic Findings in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension and Pregnancy

Theresia Knoche et al. Brain Sci. .

Abstract

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) has its highest prevalence among women of childbearing age and therefore frequently coincides with pregnancy. This retrospective cohort study aimed to explore the impact of pregnancy on the clinical course, ophthalmologic findings and on the therapeutic management of IIH patients. Individual patient records were reviewed for neuro-ophthalmologic findings, treatment strategy, adherence to therapy and pregnancy complications. Sixteen patients with 19 documented pregnancies were identified. The visual acuity, visual field defects and the grade of papilledema at baseline and after pregnancy were compared. The visual acuity and visual field mean deviation at baseline and at follow-up after pregnancy did not significantly differ. Papilledema at baseline was more pronounced in patients who had been diagnosed with IIH during pregnancy than in patients with established IIH. In this cohort, the visual acuity and the visual field were not lastingly impacted by pregnancy. The adherence to therapy was low, with 69% discontinuing treatment or medication.

Keywords: idiopathic intracranial hypertension; pregnancy; pseudotumor cerebri.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no financial or non-financial conflict of interest to disclose. The authors are indebted to the patients for their participation in this study.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of BCVA in IIH patients at baseline and after pregnancy. The mean BCVA (logMAR) at baseline and at follow-up is shown for patients with established IIH (blue boxplots) and for patients newly diagnosed with IIH during pregnancy (green boxplots). BCVA = best corrected visual acuity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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