Operative Procedures vs. Endovascular Neurosurgery for Untreated Pseudotumor Trial (OPEN-UP)

Pseudotumor cerebri, also called idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH), is characterized by elevated intracranial pressure, headache, and if severe, vision loss. IIH is difficult to treat. Medical management may not adequately resolve the symptoms, and surgical management (primarily through cerebrospinal fluid [CSF] shunting) has a high failure rate.

Recently, a relationship between IIH and stenosis of the dural venous sinuses (the veins that drain blood from the brain) has been reported. In patients with IIH in whom there is stenosis of one or more dural venous sinuses, placing a stent in the venous sinus may improve patients’ objective symptoms (such as visual loss and papilledema) and subjective symptoms (such as headache). This study will determine whether dural venous sinus stenting is as effective as CSF shunting (considered the standard surgical treatment) in treating IIH patients who have moderate vision loss and stenosis of the dural venous sinuses.