Pseudotumor Cerebri and Facial Pain

Abstract

Pseudotumor cerebri (benign intracranial hypertension) is characterized by increased intracranial pressure (ICP) caused by diffuse expansion of the interstitial fluid content of the brain.¹It typically occurs with headache and papilledema in young women. Focal neurologic signs other than sixth cranial nerve paresis are uncommon.¹A patient initially had atypical facial pain with hypesthesia and diminished corneal reflex and was found to have pseudotumor cerebri. Symptoms and signs dramatically responded to lowering of the ICP. <h3>REPORT OF A CASE</h3> A 34-year-old woman was examined for left-sided facial pain. Six years previously, late in pregnancy, she experienced numbness and paresthesias of the left side of her face that lasted for several weeks. Eighteen months previously, she experienced intermittent lateral diplopia for one week that was unassociated with headache or other neurologic symptoms. One year previously, constant pain and paresthesia developed, primarily in the distribution of the maxillary division of