Intracranial Hypertension Associated with Syphilis

Intracranial hypertension (IH) may be primary (idiopathic, or IIH, also referred to as Pseudotumor Cerebri) or secondary to another infectious, inflammatory, auto-immune, vascular, lymphatic or structural process. Patients presenting with headache, papilledema and visual complaints must have scans to prove there is no mass, often require MRVs to prove there is no large cerebral vein thrombosis, blood work to screen for hematologic, infectious, inflammatory and auto-immune disorders, and other testing deemed necessary from the history. It is imperative to test for syphilis in patients who seem to have newly diagnosed IIH.