TRANSIENT VISUAL OBSCURATIONS AND HEADACHE IN AQUEDUCT STENOSIS EXACERBATED BY MENSTRUATION

The influence of female sex hormones is implicated in the pathogenesis of benign intracranial hypertension, but their effect on intracranial pressure (ICP) in other settings is not known. We report a 23-year-ol d white female with catamenial exacerbations of transient visual obscu rations and headache suggestive of raised ICP. The patient had obstruc tive hydrocephalus secondary to stenosis of the aqueduct of Sylvius as sociated with a Chiari type I malformation. Exacerbation of raised ICP during the menstrual period was the most likely cause of her symptoms . Female sex hormones may influence the secretion or absorption of cer ebrospinal fluid in conditions other than BIH. (C) Harcourt Brace & Co . Ltd 1998.