Benign intracranial hypertension and thyreostimulin suppression hormonotherapy

To report a case of benign intracranial hypertension occurring during thyreostimulin suppression hormonotherapy after thyroidectomy for papillary cancer.

Interventional case report.

A 45-year-old woman underwent total thyroidectomy for a 7-mm papillary cancer. Seventeen years later, she experienced headache, dizziness, irritability, sensation of full head, and blurred vision of the right eye while being treated with a mix of L thyroxin (LT4) and liothyronin (LT3). Ophthalmological data (including the presence of papilledema), cerebroorbital magnetic resonance imaging, and lumbar pressure evaluation confirmed benign intracranial hypertension.

Substitutive hormonotherapy was decreased under specialized surveillance, permitting remission of benign intracranial hypertension symptoms and papilledema.

Benign intracranial hypertension is usually difficult to cure, and its association with thyroid hormonotherapy is rare. In our patient, tapering LT4 and withdrawal of LT3 until a euthyroidal state was obtained resulted in successful treatment of benign intracranial hypertension.