The Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome. Pseudotumor Cerebri, Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, Benign Intracranial Hypertension and Related Conditions

This is a comprehensive review textbook on pseudotumor cerebri syndrome (PTCS) written by three clinicians, Ian Johnston, Brain Owler, and John Pickard, all with extensive experience of this syndrome. This is an informative monograph that addresses both theoretical deliberations and practical clinical aspects. The book is well organized, beginning with a brief introductory chapter and then going on to a detailed description of the development of the “pseudotumor cerebri” concept and a review of several related controversial issues, including mechanism, nosology, and nomenclature. After these three chapters, the authors draw a provisional conclusion that an abnormality of cerebrospinal fluid dynamics due to impairment of cerebrospinal fluid absorption with increase of intracranial fluid seems to be the most likely underlying pathophysiological mechanism. Using three extensive personal patient series and a comprehensive review of clinical literature on the subject, they then discuss in detail the etiology, clinical features and investigations, treatment, and outcome (chapters 5-9). The etiology is a complex topic, and the authors concisely divide the quantified factors into two groups, depending on pathophysiological mechanisms. When dealing with clinical features, particular attention is drawn to two distinct examples: cases who have headache but without papilledema and asymptomatic cases who are found to have papilledema on routine examination. Clinical features of PTCS in pediatric ages are also reviewed. The last section of this text, chapter 10, deals with experimental studies and emphasizes possibilities for establishing a suitable experimental model of PTCS to facilitate further investigation. A potential shortcoming is the absence of differential diagnosis of headache, vision disturbances, or intracranial hypertension in the clinical section.