Neuroimaging findings in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and cerebral venous thrombosis, and their association with clinical features

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the frequency of neuroimaging findings of intracranial hypertension in patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) and cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). We also aimed to compare these findings in two patient groups and investigate the association of these findings with some clinical parameters.

Methods: Patients with IIH and CVT admitted to the neurology, neuro-ophthalmology outpatient clinics, and emergency services between 2017 and 2019 were enrolled in this study. The presence of eight previously defined neuroimaging signs of intracranial hypertension were evaluated on MRIs. The values of total MRI scores were formed to use in the analyses investigating the association between neuroimaging findings and clinical parameters.

Results: Twenty-three patients with proven IIH and seven patients with CVT with signs of intracranial hypertension were included in this study. Body mass index (BMI) values were higher in the IIH group than in the CVT group (31.0/25.9; p = 0.022). There were no differences in terms of gender distribution, age, ortotal MRI scores between the patient groups. The most common neuroimaging parameters found in the IIH group were the following: increased peri-optic cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (n = 20) and optic nerve tortuosity (n = 12). There were no significant correlations between values of total MRI scores, lumbar puncture opening pressure, and BMI.

Conclusion: Neuroimaging findings are useful tools with high diagnostic sensitivity in IIH. The most sensitive finding was increased peri-optic CSF. The utility of these neuroimaging correlates and their potential significance as solely diagnostic markers in IIH should be investigated in future large-scale studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Idiopathic intracranial hypertension
• cerebral venous thrombosis
• neuroimaging
• lumbar puncture
• diagnosis

Author Contributions

Concept – H.O.; Design – H.O., T.K.; Supervision – H.O.; Materials – H.O, T.K.; Data Collection and/or Processing – H.O, T.K.; Analysis and/or Interpretation – HO.; Literature Search – H.O, T.K.; Writing Manuscript – H.O., Critical Review – H.O.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Financial Disclosure

The authors declared that this study has received no financial support.