Multiple small cavernous angiomas of the brain with increased intracranial pressure

Small vascular malformations of the central nervous system are generally considered cryptic, or silent, because they are an incidental but frequent finding at autopsy. When they are symptomatic, these malformations have been associated with intracranial hemorrhage or seizures. The patient reported here had multiple small cavernous angiomas associated with a syndrome resembling pseudotumor cerebri. The increased intracranial pressure apparently was produced by multifocal areas of cerebral edema without associated hydrocephalus.