INTRACRANIAL HYPERTENSION OF UNKNOWN CAUSE

Abstract

Occasionally one encounters a case which presents clinical symptoms and signs strongly indicative of a tumor of the brain, yet after complete studies one finds no evidence of neoplasm. The condition to be reviewed has been described in the literature under a number of different headings, none of which seems to be satisfactory. Terms such as "serous meningitis," "toxic hydrocephalus" and "pseudotumor" indicate the lack of knowledge regarding the exact nature of this condition. There are a number of conditions which justly fall into the broad classification of pseudotumor of the brain. Dandy¹listed and discussed the following: psychoneurosis, encephalitis, Schilder's disease, multiple sclerosis, syphilis, arteriosclerosis, hypertension, sinus thrombosis, various forms of meningitis (tuberculous, fungous and parasitic diseases), cerebral thrombosis and embolism, infantile cerebral palsies, hydrocephalus, macrocephalus, chondrodystrophy, oxycephalus, scaphocephalus and epilepsy. Dandy classified the cases as those presenting papilledema with increased intracranial tension and those presenting papilledema without