Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: Actual Problem Review and Early Diagnostic Problems
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) manifests as a syndrome of increased intracranial pressure (ICP) and is usually accompanied by bilateral papilloedema. The article presents a review of current data on pathogenesis and diagnostic approaches to IIH. The increase in the number of cases of IIH, including people of working age, the lack of a detailed understanding of the disease pathogenesis, different variants of its clinical course, non- specificity and other limitations in the current instrumental methods of examination create difficulties in early IIH diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Difficulties persist in the differential diagnosis of IIH and other causes of increased ICP in the initial stages of the disease, especially in the atypical course of IIH. An interdisciplinary approach is relevant for creating new algorithms in early IIH diagnosis, predictors of disease development detection and developing of instrumental diagnostic criteria. This will help with understanding of IIH pathogenesis and with development of etiopathogenetically oriented methods of prevention and treatment of IIH. It is also relevant to develop an algorithm for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with identified papilloedema, which is detected during a routine ophthalmological examination. Early diagnosis of IIH may prevent irreversible vision loss and different severe neurological complications.