The syndrome of increased intracranial pressure without localizing signs

One hundred adult patients with headache, papilledema, and no localizing signs were evaluated prospectively and followed for up to 54 months. No patient with this syndrome who had a normal mental status, negative brain scan, and normal electroencephalogram was found subsequently to harbor a mass lesion. Benign intracranial hypertension was the final diagnosis in 71 percent of the patients studied. Lumbar puncture was a safe and helpful diagnostic procedure, and in no case was subsequent neurologic deterioration noted.