Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is a syndrome characterized by low cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure and postural headaches. It is a rare condition which may sometimes present with severe symptoms such as stupor or coma. The standard treatment protocol includes conservative measures such as bed rest, hydration, and steroids. However, severe cases may require invasive measures such as epidural blood patch (EBP), continuous epidural saline infusion, epidural fibrin glue, or surgical repair of the dural defect. In this report, we describe a case of severe SIH resulting in coma that exhibited dramatic improvement on intravenous administration of steroids. This is the first report of severe SIH causing coma that was treated non-invasively by steroids only.
Endovascular coiling is a method of aneurysm embolization. Sometimes coil loops herniate in the lumen after deployment of the coil. It is usually seen in wide-necked aneurysms. It can cause migration of the coil and thromboembolic complications. There are different methods such as the use of a balloon, stent, and coil retriever to treat coil loop herniation. There are very few case series on coil loop herniation management. Most series are about the use of a stent/balloon for reposition. We are going to describe simple, novel techniques to treat coil loop herniation.In the last five years, 13 aneurysms out of 325 coiled aneurysms had coil loop herniation. We used three different techniques in these patients according to our selection criteria. The first technique was loop trap with another coil, the second was balloon and coil-plasty to trap, and the third was rescue stent and flow control.The first, second, and third techniques were successfully used in five, five and three patients, respectively. There was a complete reposition of herniated coil and thus embolization of aneurysm in all cases. All patients recovered completely without any thromboembolic complications.We recommend the use of these techniques according to the proper selection criteria.
