The web space and domain name are compliments of Sondra Johnson
Simply put, there is too much cerebrospinal fluid in your head, and there's no place for this fluid to go. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is the liquid that protects the brain and spinal cord from injury. Since your skull is an enclosed unit, the increased pressure from your excess CSF puts pressure on your brain (as well as your pituitary gland, optic nerves, and all the other things in your head). What you get is a true pressure headache.
Why is there so much CSF? One theory is that your body has increased the formation of cerebrospinal fluid. Another theory is your body has a decreased ability to absorb CSF. Whatever is going on, something has changed with the circulation of your cerebrospinal fluid.
There are two groups of patients who have pseudotumor cerebri.
The first group has PTC connected to a specific cause. Once the cause is removed, the PTC can disappear. This group is referred to as secondary PTC because there is a known primary cause of the raised head pressure.
The much larger second group develops pseudotumor cerebri and a direct cause cannot be found. The doctors have no idea what causes the primary idiopathic PTC. The disease is frequently chronic in this group and needs long-term treatment.
How is PTC Diagnosed?
Initial diagnosis often happens with an eye exam, which shows swollen optic nerves and ruptured blood vessels in the eye (papilledema).
Since this can be a symptom of a brain tumor, a CAT scan or MRI is needed to eliminate this possibility (hence the name pseudotumor).
To confirm the diagnosis of pseudotumor cerebri, a spinal tap must be done to measure the spinal fluid pressure. Normal spinal fluid pressure is 70 mm to 200 mm; in PTC spinal fluid pressure is elevated, usually between 250 mm and 600 mm. The protein level and cell count in the fluid has to be normal for the PTC diagnosis. White blood cell counts over 3 and/or protein over 45 indicate there is an infection or inflammation causing the abnormalities.