Liver Lover's Headache: Pseudotumor Cerebri and Vitamin A Intoxication

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Abstract
To the Editor.— We wish to draw attention to dietary habits of patients with pseudotumor cerebri (PTC), a syndrome of elevated intracranial pressure that typically occurs in obese young women and is characterized by headache and papilledema. The nature of this condition is usually undiscovered but is associated with a variety of disorders, the most predictable of which is vitamin A intoxication. In fact, pseudotumor cerebri occurs in 30% to 50% of patients with hypervitaminosis A.1,2This causal relationship prompted us to conduct a dietary survey of approximately 50 patients with idiopathic PTC. Report of Cases.— Surprisingly, we discovered five patients who ate beef liver at least once or twice a week. Several patients consumed liver at multiple meals during a single day or regularly on luncheon sandwiches; two patients disclosed that they routinely purchased 6 to 24 lb of liver each week. None of the patients were using

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