Pediatric Intracranial Hypertension: Education Gap
Pediatric Intracranial Hypertension: Education Gap
Education Gap
Intracranial hypertension can lead to significant morbidity; because it is a
rare disorder, the general practitioner can easily miss cases.
Abstract
Headaches are common in the clinical setting. Fortunately, intracranial
hypertension (IH) is rare, but when present it can lead to significant
morbidity. Early diagnosis and proper management are important to
lessen the potential morbidity. Careful headache history, ophthalmologic
examination, head imaging, and lumbar puncture (LP) are crucial tools in
the diagnosis of this condition. Management should be coordinated with
a neurologist, ophthalmologist, or neuro-ophthalmologist.
Two patients present to your general pediatric clinic with separate complaints but
ABBREVIATIONS
BID twice daily related pathology. The first is a 16-year-old girl with a chief complaint of headache.
CSF cerebrospinal fluid She reports a daily headache for the past 3 weeks that is worse in the morning and
ICP intracranial pressure improves over the course of the day but never resolves. On examination she is
IH intracranial hypertension obese (BMI, 29) but is otherwise well-appearing. Funduscopic examination
LP lumbar puncture
reveals blurred disc margins bilaterally. Visual field testing by direct confrontation
MRI magnetic resonance imaging
ONSF optic nerve sheath fenestration
notes constricted peripheral vision on the right side. The next patient is a well-
PIH primary intracranial hypertension appearing 6-year-old boy who presents after failing his vision screening at school.
SIH secondary intracranial hypertension He denies any symptoms, but his mother interjects that he has been complaining
Further revisions to the criteria for PIH by Friedman patients diagnosed as having demyelinating disorders and
and colleagues (4) have attempted to update the criteria found that they had a mean opening pressure of 21.5 cm
and include requirements for pediatric cases and those H2O, higher than the total population mean of 20.3 cm
presenting without optic nerve edema. Concerns have H2O. Morgan-Followell and Aylward (7) evaluated age-
been raised that these stringent criteria will result in and sex-matched cohorts of patients with demyelinating
missed cases and increased potential morbidity. The pedi- conditions and PIH for comparison and found no statis-
atric normative values for CSF opening pressure have tically significant difference in the opening pressure
recently received scrutiny. Older studies determined nor- between the 2 groups. This suggests that demyelinating
mal opening pressures of 18 cm H2O or less for children conditions have elevated opening pressures and that
younger than 8 years and of 25 cm H2O or less for children including them in a normative population may falsely
8 years or older (mirrors adult normal values). Recent elevate the average. Fortunately, the debate surrounding
articles have questioned these values. Using 44 pediatric the normal pressure is rarely needed because patients
patients who had a sedated LP, Lee and Vedanarayanan (5) often have opening pressures well above either cutoff
found a mean opening pressure of 20.3 cm H2O. Avery point. However, to avoid additional morbidities by miss-
et al (6) observed a mean opening pressure of 19.8 cm ing cases, the authors prefer to use the older criteria.
H2O, and the 90th percentile for their cohort was 28 cm
H2O. They also found increases with moderate sedation
EPIDEMIOLOGY
and increased BMI. Both studies included patients with
demyelinating and white matter disorders as well as Traditionally, PIH is thought of as a rare disease. Outside
healthy patients. Other published studies have shown the United States, the annual pediatric incidence is esti-
increased opening pressures in patients with demyelin- mated to be 0.47 per 100,000 in Germany and 0.6 to 0.9
ating conditions. Lee et al conducted a separate analysis of per 100,000 in the provinces of Nova Scotia and Prince
somewhat less reliable. The most reliable method is cur- mass lesion, hydrocephalus, or other conditions that would
rently fluorescein angiography. (12) be a contraindication to performing the LP. All pediatric
Neuroimaging (computed tomography or MRI) should patients diagnosed as having IH should eventually undergo
be performed as an initial step in the evaluation to rule out MRI and magnetic resonance venography to rule out other
1. A 14-year-old girl presents to the clinic for a health supervision visit. She has a history of REQUIREMENTS: Learners
primary intracranial hypertension, which is now resolved. She is concerned about facial can take Pediatrics in Review
pustular acne, especially as she starts high school. Which of the following medications quizzes and claim credit
would be the most appropriate first-line treatment for this patient? online only at: http://
A. Clindamycin/tretinoin. pedsinreview.org.
B. Erythromycin/benzoyl peroxide. To successfully complete
C. Minocycline. 2018 Pediatrics in Review
D. Oral contraceptives. articles for AMA PRA
E. Retinoic acid. Category 1 CreditTM, learners
2. A 9-year-old obese boy is seen in an urgent care clinic for headaches and vision problems must demonstrate a minimum
for the past 2 weeks. According to the modified Dandy criteria, the presence of which of performance level of 60% or
the following would exclude a diagnosis of primary intracranial hypertension? higher on this assessment.
A. Abducens palsy. If you score less than 60%
B. Enlarged blind spot. on the assessment, you
C. Localizing neurologic signs. will be given additional
D. Spontaneous venous pulsations on funduscopic examination. opportunities to answer
E. Transient visual obscurations. questions until an overall 60%
or greater score is achieved.
3. You refer a 5-year-old boy to the ophthalmology clinic because his mother is concerned that
he dislikes reading and holds his book too far away from his face. You receive a call from the This journal-based CME
ophthalmologist stating that his visual acuity is normal but he has bilateral optic disc edema. activity is available through
Which of the following best represents the percentage of prepubertal pediatric patients that Dec. 31, 2020, however, credit
have optic disc edema incidentally discovered on routine eye examination? will be recorded in the year in
A. 1%. which the learner completes
B. 10%. the quiz.
C. 20%.
D. 25%.
E. 30%.
4. After receiving a lumbar puncture and confirming that his cerebrospinal fluid pressure
is elevated at 30 cm H20, the patient described in Question 3 is started on acetazolamide.
2018 Pediatrics in Review now
His mother would like to know how long the papilledema will take to resolve.
is approved for a total of 30
Which of the following represents the average time that it takes for papilledema to resolve?
Maintenance of Certification
A. 2 weeks. (MOC) Part 2 credits by the
B. 6 weeks. American Board of Pediatrics
C. 2 months. through the AAP MOC
D. 5 months. Portfolio Program. Complete
E. 1 year. the first 10 issues or a total of
5. A 13-year-old girl who presented with headaches at age 12 years and was diagnosed as 30 quizzes of journal CME
having primary intracranial hypertension returns to the clinic with recurrence of her credits, achieve a 60% passing
headaches after weaning her off acetazolamide. She also notes nausea and photophobia. You score on each, and start
suspect a diagnosis of migraines but wonder whether you should check a cerebrospinal fluid claiming MOC credits as early
opening pressure. Which of the following represents the recurrence rate of primary as October 2018. To learn how
intracranial hypertension? to claim MOC points, go to:
A. 10%. http://www.aappublications.
B. 20%. org/content/moc-credit.
C. 30%.
D. 40%.
E. 50%.
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