OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical course of an unusually severe case of minocycline-induced intracranial hypertension. DESIGN: Case study. SETTING: Academic medical center. PATIENT: Twelve-year-old girl with a fulminant course of intracranial hypertension. INTERVENTIONS: Magnetic resonance imaging and venography of the brain, lumbar puncture, and optic nerve sheath fenestration. RESULTS: Although the patient ceased minocycline treatment, there was ongoing and rapid worsening of symptoms and vision loss. Lumbar puncture, which normally acts as a temporizing measure to preserve vision, failed to prevent, and may even have precipitated, further deterioration in vision, necessitating surgical intervention with optic nerve sheath fenestration. CONCLUSION: Minocycline can cause a fulminant syndrome of elevated intracranial pressure, with severe vision loss, even after the medication has been discontinued.
OBJECTIVE: To describe the clinical course of an unusually severe case of minocycline-induced intracranial hypertension. DESIGN: Case study. SETTING: Academic medical center. PATIENT: Twelve-year-old girl with a fulminant course of intracranial hypertension. INTERVENTIONS: Magnetic resonance imaging and venography of the brain, lumbar puncture, and optic nerve sheath fenestration. RESULTS: Although the patient ceased minocycline treatment, there was ongoing and rapid worsening of symptoms and vision loss. Lumbar puncture, which normally acts as a temporizing measure to preserve vision, failed to prevent, and may even have precipitated, further deterioration in vision, necessitating surgical intervention with optic nerve sheath fenestration. CONCLUSION:Minocycline can cause a fulminant syndrome of elevated intracranial pressure, with severe vision loss, even after the medication has been discontinued.