PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Hanne Yri
AU  - Marianne Wegener
AU  - Rigmor Jensen
TI  - Syphilis mimicking idiopathic intracranial hypertension
AID  - 10.1136/bcr.09.2011.4813
DP  - 2011 Nov 09
TA  - BMJ Case Reports
PG  - bcr0920114813
VI  - 2011
4099  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2011/bcr.09.2011.4813.short
4100  - http://casereports.bmj.com/content/2011/bcr.09.2011.4813.full
AB  - Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a condition of yet unknown aetiology affecting predominantly obese females of childbearing age. IIH is a diagnosis of exclusion as raised cerebrospinal fluid pressure may occur secondary to numerous other medical conditions. An atypical phenotype or an atypical disease course should alert the physician to reevaluate a presumed IIH-diagnosis. The authors report a case of a 32-year-old non-obese male with intracranial hypertension, secondary to a syphilitic central nervous system infection, initially misdiagnosed as being idiopathic. Upon relevant antibiotic treatment, signs and symptoms of elevated intracranial pressure resolved completely. Syphilis is a rare, but very important, differential diagnosis that in this case was clinically indistinguishable from IIH.