Clinical features, laboratory findings and radiological examinations in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is a rare disease characterized by increased intracranial pressure in women of childbearing age without an underlying structural lesion. Patients present with symptoms of increased intracranial pressure. Headache is the most common symptom. Also, patients generally experience tinnitus, nausea, and vision loss. Obesity is the major risk factor. The incidence of the disease has increased as obesity is more common in society. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension can lead to permanent visual loss thus the prompt diagnosis and treatment is important. In our study, 91 of the patients who were admitted to Gazi University Faculty of Medicine Neurology-Neuroophthalmology outpatient clinic were examined. Demographic and clinical features of the cases, lumbar puncture opening pressures, complete blood count, serum and CSF biochemical parameters, and MR imaging were examined. Eighty-seven (95.6%) of the patients were women. The majority of them were obese and their body mass index was over 30 kg/m2. The most common symptom was the headache, the least common symptom was double vision. Only 6.6% of the patients had no papilledema. Vitamin B12, folate, and vitamin D levels tended to be deficient. 21% of the patients were anemic. The CSF and serum biochemistry values of the patients were within normal limits. 70.8% of the patients had tortuous appearance in the optic nerve, and 95.9% had a partial empty sella or empty sella appearance. In conclusion, our study reveals the sociodemographic, clinical, laboratory, and MR imaging characteristics of patients with IIH in the Turkish population. When the pituitary gland height, perioptic subarachnoid distance, and optic nerve sheath thickness were examined according to the lumbar puncture opening pressures and body mass index of the patients, no significant difference was observed. There was no correlation between lumbar puncture opening pressure and MR parameters. When the body mass index and serum biochemistry, CSF biochemistry, and MR imaging were compared, no significant difference was found.