Radioisotope cisternography: a potentially useful tool for headache diagnosis in patients with an IDD pump

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) and related headache after intrathecal pump implantation is a possibility. Knowing the exact location of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak is mandatory for managing with interventional therapies. Radioisotope cisternography (RICG) is a common procedure in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pain physician 2014-01, Vol.17 (1), p.E89-E94
Main Authors: De Andres, Jose, Esparza, Miguel J, Ferrer-Rebolleda, Jose, Castillo-Ruiz, Ascension, Villaneuva-Perez, Vincent Luis
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Case reports
Catheters
Diagnostic Techniques, Radioisotope
Female
Headache - diagnosis
Headache - etiology
Headaches
Humans
Hypotension
Infusion Pumps, Implantable - adverse effects
Intracranial Hypotension - therapy
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Medical diagnosis
Patients
Radioisotopes
Subdural Effusion
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Summary:Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) and related headache after intrathecal pump implantation is a possibility. Knowing the exact location of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak is mandatory for managing with interventional therapies. Radioisotope cisternography (RICG) is a common procedure in nuclear medicine and may be used as an additional procedure in the differential diagnosis of headaches due to intracranial liquor hypotension syndrome caused by microleakage of CSF. We report an imaging case of complex chronic headache in a patient with an implanted drug delivery pump. The symptomatology of the patient was considered typical of spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH). Therefore, the initial suspicion was the loss of CSF due to the implanted pump catheter. The negativity of the routine headache test can exclude any leakage of CSF at the site of catheter insertion. Anesthesia, Critical Care, and Multidisciplinary Pain Management Department, General University General Hospital, Valencia, Spain. Many patients are treated with implanted intrathecal infusion systems. In these patients, any neurological symptoms are readily attributed to the invasive neuroaxial system, especially severe cephalalgia. RICG was helpful in this particular case to make a diagnosis of exclusion of the diagnosis of SIH due to CSF leakage. RICG may be considered as an additional diagnostic technique in patients with chronic pain and implanted spinal infusion devices for whom standard detection procedures have been exhausted.
ISSN:1533-3159
2150-1149
DOI:10.36076/ppj.2014/17/E89