Childhood-onset idiopathic intracranial hypertension: relation of sex and obesity.

The purpose of the present study was to perform a meta-analysis of all children with idiopathic intracranial hypertension reported since 1997 combined with our experience in order to investigate sex distribution and frequency of obesity among young children up 11 years of age vs adolescents at age 12-17 years. Overall, 244 children diagnosed with idiopathic intracranial hypertension were found suitable for the proposed meta-analysis: 132 (54%) were younger than 11 years of age; 72 (55%) were male and 60 (44%) were female. In contrast, of 112 older children (age 12-17 years), 79 (70%) were female. The association between age and obesity could be analyzed in 147 patients: only 19 (26%) out of 74 younger children up to age 11 years were reportedly obese, whereas 47 (64%) out of 73 older children were found obese. Differences in age at presentation, sex, and obesity were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Thus, a wide-scale meta-analysis of childhood-onset idiopathic intracranial hypertension revealed that the female/male ratio in children younger than age 11 years seems to be fairly equal, with a relatively low rate of obesity, contrasting to a majority of females in the group of adolescents at high risk to become obese.