Venous sinus stenting: a therapeutic alternative for refractory idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a disease of elevated intracranial pressure (ICP) characterized by optic disc edema, visual loss and positional headache (1). Treatment strategies to prevent catastrophic visual loss include carbonic anhydrase inhibition and weight loss but selected patients require surgical intervention including cerebrospinal fluid diversion or optic nerve sheath fenestration. Transverse venous sinus stenosis is a potential pathophysiological mechanism leading transverse venous sinus stenting to be proposed as an alternative procedure to reduce ICP and thereby arrest disease progression (2, 3).