Idiopathic intracranial hypertension and bariatric surgery: a systematic review

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a rare condition typically affecting women with obesity who are of child-bearing age. Patients commonly present with headaches, visual disturbances, pulsatile tinnitus and papilledema. The association between IIH and obesity has been well established in the literature, suggesting that weight loss may contribute to improving IIH. For patients with severe obesity for whom conservative management is not successful, bariatric surgery is an effective modality for weight loss. We aimed to systematically review the literature to determine the efficacy of bariatric surgery in the treatment of IIH

We conducted a comprehensive search of MEDLINE, Embase, Scopus, the Cochrane Library and Web of Science (limited to studies in humans published in English between January 1946 and July 2015).

Twelve primary studies (n = 39 patients) were included in the systematic review. All patients had a preoperative diagnosis of IIH. Preoperative body mass index (BMI) was 47.4 ± 3.6 kg/m2 ; BMI improved to 33.7 ± 2.1 kg/m2 and 33.9 ± 11.6 kg/m2 at 6 and 12 months postoperatively, respectively. Lumbar puncture opening pressures decreased from 34.4 ± 6.9 cmH2O to 14.0 ± 3.6 cmH2O after surgery. Common symptoms of IIH improved after bariatric surgery: headaches (100% preoperatively v. 10% postoperatively), visual complaints (62% v. 44%), tinnitus (56% v. 3%) and papilledema (62% v. 8%).

Bariatric surgery appears to lead to considerable improvement in IIH. Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is not a well-publicized comorbidity of obesity, but its presence may be considered as an indication for bariatric surgery.