Also known as benign intracranial hypertension, a syndrome caused by increased pressure within the brain. Symptoms of pseudotumor cerebri can mimic those of a tumor and include headache, vomiting, double vision, and papilledema (swelling of the first part of the optic nerve), but no tumor is found on cerebral imaging. The condition is most common in obese young women and may resolve on its own. However, treatment may be necessary to protect vision. Diagnosis is made by measuring the spinal fluid pressure during a lumbar puncture. Treatments include diuretics, optic nerve fenestration (opening a small slit in the optic nerve to allow the fluid pressure to be released), and surgical placement of a shunt (with the shunt tip in the ventricle of the brain and the draining end in the peritoneal cavity).
Benign intracranial hypertension. A relatively uncommon neurological condition — found in young overweight women more than other groups of the population — whose hallmarks are moderately severe headaches associated with papilledema on physical examination. Imaging studies do not reveal a mass lesion in the brain. Cerebrospinal fluid pressures are markedly elevated when measured by lumbar puncture. Treatment may include diuretics, or the surgical construction of a shunt to relieve intracranial hypertension.