Unusual presentation of benign intracranial hypertension: Early treatment with oral glycerol

Abstract

A case is described of benign intracranial hypertension of the non-otitic type presenting in a boy aged 7 with a febrile illness and unilateral ocular toxoplasmosis accompanied by transitory secondary glaucoma. The condition is briefly reviewed and the diagnosis and clinical features in this patient are discussed. The aetiology is considered, and reasons are advanced for believing that a recrudescence of primary toxoplasmosis could explain both the uveitis and the benign intracranial hypertension on the basis of a hypersensitivity reaction, producing in the brain vasodilatation, increased blood flow, and oedema, with consequentc raised intracranial pressure. The advantages of treatment with oral glycerol are discussed, and its beneficial effects in this case are described.