Loulwah Mukharesh, MD, Marc A. Bouffard, MD, Elizabeth Fortin, MD, David H. Brann, Sandeep Robert Datta, MD, PhD, Sashank Prasad, MD, Bart K. Chwalisz, MD (2023)

Pseudotumor CerebriSyndromeWithCOVID-19:ACase Series

Journal of neuro-ophthalmology, Volume 42, Issue 3

Pseudotumorcerebrisyndrome (PCS) either affects mostly overweight women of childbearing age as idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) or can occur secondary to other medical conditions. Symptoms include headaches, transient visual obscurations(TVOs), pulse-synchronous tinnitus (PST), and vision loss. Diagnosis rests on increased intracranial pressure (ICP) without alternative explanation such as intracranial mass, meningitis, or cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). COVID-19 is a global pandemic caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV2). We describe an association between PCS and COVID-19 in adult patients. Potential mechanisms include dysregulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) dynamics in the setting of choroid plexus epithelium and meningeal infection, venous clotting, or quarantine-related lifestyle modifications promoting weight gain. In this study, we report 8 patients (See Supplemental Digital Content, Table 1, http://links.lww.com/WNO/A536) who developed new or worsening PCS shortly after acquiring COVID-19 without meningoencephalitis or major CVST and mostly without significant recent weight gain.