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Journal of Pediatric Neurology 2015; 13(01): 003-007
DOI: 10.1055/s-0035-1555144
Review Article
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

The History of Pseudotumor Cerebri Syndrome among “Courses” and “Recourses”

Martino Ruggieri
1   Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
,
Vincenzo Salpietro
2   Department of Pediatric Neurology, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
3   Department of Pediatrics, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
,
Conrad E. Johanson
4   Department of Neurosurgery, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, United States
› Author Affiliations
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Publication History

29 November 2014

03 February 2015

Publication Date:
13 July 2015 (online)

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Abstract

The terms “pseudotumor cerebri” and “benign intracranial hypertension,” respectively, introduced by Nonne in 1904 and Foley in 1955, were originally used to describe patients with raised intracranial pressure in whom no tumor was found and whose course was considered to be relatively benign. In the modern era of medicine, the natural history of this condition has proved to be not always benign, as some patients with “benign intracranial hypertension” developed permanent blindness. Therefore, Buchheit in 1969 challenged the terms “benign” and “pseudotumor” and the denomination was then changed to “idiopathic intracranial hypertension.” The recently updated diagnostic criteria for this syndrome reintroduced the original terminology and proposed to define the condition as “pseudotumor cerebri syndrome.” The aim of this umbrella term is to encompass all the potential etiologies, primary and secondary, of increased intracranial pressure not associated with intracranial mass and/or anomalies of the brain parenchyma. In this article, we briefly review the history of pseudotumor cerebri syndrome.

Keywords

idiopathic intracranial hypertension - pseudotumor cerebri - history