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Child's Nervous System
Published in: Child's Nervous System 6/2019

01-06-2019 | Obesity | Original Article

Demographics, clinical features, and response to conventional treatments in pediatric Pseudotumor Cerebri syndrome: a single-center experience

Published in: Child's Nervous System | Issue 6/2019

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Abstract

Objective

The goal of this study was to better understand pediatric Pseudotumor Cerebri syndrome, and its relationship to age, obesity, and other medical conditions; and to evaluate response to conventional treatments.

Methods

A retrospective chart review was performed on consecutive patients who were diagnosed with PTCS between January 1, 2007, and July 31, 2014. A total of 78 patients were included in this study: 54 female (69.3%) and 24 male (30.7%). Variables including age, sex, body mass index, concomitant medical conditions, secondary causes, associated symptoms, physical exam findings, imaging results, recurrence of symptoms, and treatment modalities were analyzed. Patients were grouped into “pre-kindergarten,” “elementary,” and “adolescent” based on their age; and weight categories of underweight, normal weight, overweight, moderately, and severely obese.

Results

Mean age of symptom onset was 11.92 ± 4.09 years. Elementary and adolescent age patients were more likely to be overweight, moderately obese, and severely obese, while this finding was not found for patients in pre-kindergarten group. Headache (83.3%) and visual disturbances (48.7%) were the most common presenting complaints. Asthma (16.6%) was the most common associated concomitant medical condition. Medical management resulted in resolution in 84% of population, 15% required surgical interventions, and the recurrence rate was found to be 20.5%. There was a statistically significant trend in success with medical management in younger patients (p = 0.04), while medically refractory PTCS was seen in adolescent females. Recurrence of PTCS had a linear trend with increased occurrence in adolescent age group with higher BMI. Asthma was observed to be frequently associated with PTCS in our cohort. Obesity is strongly associated with PTCS, not only in the adolescent group but also in the younger elementary age group. Treatment remains similar to management in the adults with a good response (84%) to medical management and a low relapse rate.
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Metadata
Title
Demographics, clinical features, and response to conventional treatments in pediatric Pseudotumor Cerebri syndrome: a single-center experience
Publication date
01-06-2019
Published in
Child's Nervous System / Issue 6/2019
Print ISSN: 0256-7040
Electronic ISSN: 1433-0350
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-019-04150-y

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