Central nervous system superficial siderosis, headache, and epilepsy

Headache. 1999 Oct;39(9):666-9. doi: 10.1046/j.1526-4610.1999.3909666.x.

Abstract

Almost 95 cases of superficial siderosis of the central nervous system have been reported in the literature. These patients showed a clinical syndrome characterized by ataxia, deafness, pyramidal system involvement, and mental deterioration with xanthochromic cerebrospinal fluid and neuroradiological findings of hemosiderin deposits. About 30% of the patients had headache as an accompanying symptom. In the present case report, we describe a 33-year-old man with the typical clinical features of superficial siderosis, who complained, since aged 8, of a severe recurrent frontal headache often associated with loss of consciousness occurring after at least 2 hours of pain. The MRI and CSF findings were consistent with subarachnoid bleeding. In our patient, headache due to meningeal irritation by subarachnoid blood induced seizures as a probable reflex of extreme pain. Carbamazepine and nimodipine prophylaxis dramatically reduced the frequency of headaches and seizures.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Central Nervous System Diseases / etiology*
  • Craniocerebral Trauma / complications
  • Epilepsy / etiology*
  • Headache / etiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Siderosis / etiology*
  • Subarachnoid Hemorrhage / complications*