Thirty patients with a typical orthostatic headache were treated by early lumbar epidural blood patch (EBP) without previously performing lumbar puncture or identifying a CSF leak and with or without typical MRI changes. A complete cure was obtained in 77% of patients after one (57%) or two (20%) EBPs. Spontaneous intracranial hypotension with typical orthostatic headache can be diagnosed without lumbar puncture and can be cured by early EBP in a majority of patients.

These findings support the notion that right insular involvement may lead to electrocardiographic abnormalities with potential prognostic implications. This could be important for optimal care in patients with right insular infarct.

We report 2 patients who had clinical and neuroimaging signs of spontaneous intracranial hypotension and who developed cerebral sinus venous thrombosis. This sequence of events – known after dural puncture but not in spontaneous intracranial hypotension – was suggested by the change in the pattern of headache, from a postural to a permanent and increasing one. The diagnostic and therapeutic difficulties that this complication raises are discussed.

Exposure to HPV vaccines was not associated with an increased risk of ADs within the time period studied. Results were robust to case definitions and time windows of exposure. Continued active surveillance is needed to confirm this finding for individual ADs.