Idiopathic intracranial hypertension from the perspective of headache center.

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a pathological state defined as an increase of intracranial pressure in the absence of a causative pathological process. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical features of the patients with IIH diagnosed in our Headache Center according to the current knowledge of this disorder. In the retrospective and cross-sectional analysis of 3395 patients we present 12 newly diagnosed IIH patients, ten women and two men, aged from 19 to 51, with obtained values of cerebrospinal fluid pressure between 250 and 680 mm of water. The symptoms of IIH clinical presentation have been headache, reported by 92% of patients; papilledema, noted in 67%; and cranial nerve impairment (25%). The results obtained from presented patients confirmed the presence of headache features that are included in criteria for headache attributed with IIH in majority of them: progressive, daily, diffuse, non-pulsatile headache with aggravation by coughing or straining. Decrease of pain intensity after lumbar puncture was noted in all patients. We notice the relatively small proportion of patients with headache attributed to IIH among the patients treated in our Headache Center. The prevalence of IIH is not low and headache is the most frequent presenting symptom; therefore, we could only conclude that some chronic headache patients refractory for treatment are patients with IIH.