Benign intracranial hypertension and facial diplegia
K. J. Kiwak and S. E. Levine
Benign intracranial hypertension (BIH) may occasionally be associated with
false localizing cranial nerve palsies. Abducens nerve palsies reportedly
occur in 10% to 60% of patients with BIH, whereas other cranial nerve
palsies occur much less frequently. We treated a woman with benign
intracranial hypertension and facial diplegia who showed complete
resolution of her cranial nerve palsies after control of her elevated
intracranial pressure with a lumboperitoneal shunt. The pathophysiologic
course of cranial nerve palsies in patients with BIH is uncertain but in
most cases probably represents a nonspecific pressure-related phenomenon,
as was clearly demonstrated in this patient. The clinical association of
BIH and facial diplegia has not, to our knowledge, been reported
previously.
