Intracranial hypotension in a breast cancer patient treated with epidural blood patches

Abstract

We report the case of a patient with metastatic breast cancer who presented with an orthostatic headache. After a comprehensive diagnostic workup including MRIand lumbar puncture, we maintained the diagnosis of intracranial hypotension (IH). The patient was therefore treated with two consecutive nontargeted epidural blood patches, resulting in the remission of IH symptoms for 6months. IH in cancer patients is a rarer cause of headache than carcinomatous meningitis. As the diagnosis can be made by standard examination and the treatment is relatively simple and effective, IH deserves to be better known by oncologists.