The Reliability of Venous Sinus Stenosis Using Non Contrast 3D MRV in Prediction of the Diagnosis of Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension, a Case Control Study

Idiopathic intracranial hypertension, or shorty IIH, refers to a clinical syndrome in which there is elevated CSF pressure and papilledema in the lack of any focal neurological signs. It is largely a diagnosis of exclusion, but imaging workup is undertaken routinely in order to rule out other pathologies. In this study we tried to evaluate the prevalence of venous sinus abnormalities using the simpler and less invasive non contrast enhanced 3D TOF MRV in group of patients with IIH, using the combined stenosis score, and compare this score with a group of controls, to assess the accuracy of MRV alone as an individual test in predicting the diagnosis of IIH. The study sample included 44 patients and 25 control subjects, following MRV analysis it was found that a combined severity score of cut of value of 4.5 for the combined conduit score (CCS) was associated with 79% sensitivity and 88.6 specificity for the diagnosis of IIH, and a cut off value of 5.5 for the adjusted score method gives a 83% sensitivity and 88.6 % specificity for the diagnosis. MRV is a valuable in the diagnosis of IIH; non contrast 3D MRV is an efficient test and gives valuable diagnostic information.