Ultrasound diagnosis of papilledema and increased intracranial pressure in pseudotumor cerebri.

Bedside ultrasound has been used to identify intracranial hypertension through the measurement of optic nerve sheath diameter. This case report describes the sonographic detection of papilledema and a wide optic nerve sheath in a patient with pseudotumor cerebri who presented to the Emergency Department with headache and photophobia, and in whom fundoscopy was poorly tolerated. Bedside ultrasound may represent an alternate means of assessing for papilledema when a traditional fundoscopic exam is non-diagnostic.