Growth Hormone, Insulin-like Growth Factor I, and Benign Intracranial Hypertension

To the Editor: The Food and Drug Administration, after receiving 6 reports of benign intracranial hypertension (pseudotumor cerebri) in patients treated with recombinant growth hormone, actively identified an additional 17 affected patients in the United States or abroad. Benign intracranial hypertension was also reported in three patients with resistance to growth hormone who were treated with insulin-like growth factor I, the primary mediator of the actions of growth hormone. The 23 cases -- 22 in children and 1 in an adult -- associated with growth hormone treatment occurred between 1986 and 1993. Among the children, seven had growth hormone deficiency, . . .