Bariatric Surgery Raises Risk of Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension

the Neurology Advisor take:

Weight-loss surgery may raise the risk of spontaneous intracranial hypotension, according to a study published in Neurology.

Wouter I. Schievink, MD, of the departments of neurosurgery and surgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues evaluated the possible link between bariatric surgery and spontaneous intracranial hypotension. The researchers evaluated two groups of patients: 338 people with spontaneous intracranial hypotension and 245 people with unruptured intracranial aneurysms.

Eleven (3.3%) of the 338 patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension had had bariatric surgery compared to two (0.8%) of the 245 patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms. The 11 patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension following bariatric surgery had a mean age of 40.8 years at the time of surgery, and a mean age of 45.6 years at the time of onset of spontaneous intracranial hypotension.  Mean weight at the time of surgery was 130 kg and mean BMI was 44.6, while at the onset of symptoms, mean weight was 77.5 kg and mean BMI was 26.4. Mean weight loss from bariatric surgery to onset of symptoms of intracranial hypotension was 52.5 kg, with a mean time interval during the same period of 56.5 months.

The researchers concluded that bariatric surgery is a risk factor for spontaneous intracranial hypotension.