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Headache and the Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome

  • Secondary Headache (K Henry and M Robbins, Section Editors)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) refers to the primary and secondary disorders that cause elevated intracranial pressure without an intracranial mass lesion, ventriculomegaly, or central nervous system infection or malignancy. Headache is the most frequent symptom of PTCS, but there is considerable overlap between the headache features of raised intracranial pressure and the headache features of primary headache disorders. We review headache subtypes that occur in PTCS, non-headache features that help distinguish PTCS from other headache types, changes to the diagnostic criteria for PTCS with and without papilledema, and headache treatment strategies as they apply to PTCS.

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Conflict of Interest

Dr. Robert M. Mallery declares no potential conflicts of interest.

Dr. Deborah I. Friedman receives grant support from the National Eye Institute, Merck, and ElectroCore. Dr. Friedman has received personal fees from Zogenix, MedLink Neurology, the American Headache Society, the American Academy of Neurology, and various legal firms for expert testimony. Dr. Friedman has received speaking honoraria from Allergan, Inc., and serves on the editorial board of Neurology Reviews.

Dr. Grant T. Liu has consulted for Ipsen and receives book royalties from Elsevier.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology, University of Pennsylvania, 51 N. 39th Street, Suite 501, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Robert M. Mallery

  2. Departments of Neurology and Neurotherapeutics and Ophthalmology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX, 75390-9036, USA

    Deborah I. Friedman

  3. Division of Neuro-ophthalmology, Departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, 3 West Gates Building, 3400 Spruce Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Grant T. Liu

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  1. Robert M. Mallery
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  2. Deborah I. Friedman
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Correspondence to Grant T. Liu.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Secondary Headache

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Mallery, R.M., Friedman, D.I. & Liu, G.T. Headache and the Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome. Curr Pain Headache Rep 18, 446 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0446-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-014-0446-z

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