The manifestations of metabolic acidosis during acetazolamide treatment in a cohort of pediatric idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Background Idiopathic intracranial hypertension is characterized by increased intracranial pressure with unidentified pathology. Despite its use as the first-line treatment, data on acetazolamide’s effectiveness and safety in pediatric idiopathic intracranial hypertension is sparse. This study's objective was to assess those issues and the need for routine blood gas monitoring during treatment. Methods Retrospective observational cohort study, based on multicenter computerized medical charts of pediatric patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension diagnosed between 2007–2018 in three medical centers serving one metropolitan area (an estimated population of 400,000 children). Clinical and laboratory data of children up to 18 years old, fulfilling the Friedman criteria and taking acetazolamide, were collected and analyzed. Results Sixty-eight patients were included with a mean acetazolamide treatment duration of 8.5 months and a median maximal dose 18 mg/kg/d. Sixty-two children had mild (76%), moderate (13%), or severe (1.5%) metabolic acidosis. At least one adverse effect (neurologic, gastrointestinal, renal) was recorded among 27% of patients. No significant difference was found between the mean pH of children with or without clinical adverse effects ( p = 0.35). No correlation was found between laboratory acidosis and adverse effect severity ( p = 0.3), or between median acetazolamide dose and acidosis level ( p = 0.57). Conclusions Although laboratory finding of metabolic acidosis is common among patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension treated with acetazolamide, it is not correlated with clinics. Therefore, we recommend sending blood tests during acetazolamide treatment based on clinical judgment. Graphical abstract A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information