Table 2.
Differential diagnosis of IIH (cases must meet the modified Dandy criteria of IIH except that a cause is found)
| Highly likely risk factors |
| female gender |
| obesity/weight gain |
| endocrine disorders |
| Addison’s disease |
| hypoparathyroidism |
| steroid withdrawal |
| growth hormone use in children |
| nutritional disorders |
| hypervitaminosis A (vitamin, liver or isotretinoin intake and all-trans retinoic acid for acute pro-myelocytic leukemia) |
| hyperalimentation in deprivation dwarfism |
| Probable risk factors |
| chlordecone (kepone) |
| ketoprofen or indomethacin in Bartter’s syndrome |
| thyroid replacement therapy in hypothyroid children |
| tetracycline and its derivatives |
| uremia |
| Possible risk factors |
| sleep apnea |
| systemic lupus erythematous |
| amiodarone |
| hypovitaminosis A |
| iron deficiency anemia |
| lithium carbonate |
| nalidixic acid |
| sarcoidosis |
| sulfa antibiotics |
| hypophosphatasia |
| Unlikely or unproven risk factors |
| corticosteroid intake |
| hyperthyroidism |
| menarche |
| arterial hypertension |
| menstrual irregularities |
| multivitamin intake |
| oral contraceptive use |
| pregnancy |
| Secondary causes of intracranial hypertension |
| decreased flow through arachnoid granulations |
| scarring from previous inflammation (e.g. meningitis, sequel to subarachnoid hemorrhage) |
| elevated protein (e.g. Guillain-Barre, intraspinal tumor) |
| obstruction to venous drainage |
| venous sinus thrombosis |
| hypercoagulable states |
| includes anabolic steroids and systemic lupus |
| erythematous |
| contiguous infection (e.g. middle ear or mastoid - otitic hydrocephalus) |
| bilateral radical neck dissections |
| superior vena cava syndrome |
| glomus tumor |
| increased right heart pressure |
| arteriovenous malformations and dural shunts |
The table lists the etiologies of intracranial hypertension that meet the modified Dandy criteria except a cause is associated. The highly likely risk factors category includes cases with many reports of the association with multiple lines of evidence. Probable risk factors have reports with some convincing evidence. Possible risk factors have suggestive evidence or are common conditions or medications with intracranial hypertension as a rare association. Also listed are some frequently cited but poorly documented or unlikely causes; three case-control studies suggest the majority of this group of associations is not valid. The non-idiopathic intracranial hypertension category is a list of diseases that can mimic IIH, but have a clear cause of raised intracranial pressure.