Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis

Unfortunately, this is a very difficult diagnosis to make, in large part because it can present in so many different ways, depending on the extent and location of the thrombus, and whether there is associated hemorrhage, raised intracranial pressure, or mass effect - Justin Morgenstern

Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis
Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis

image by: Kyle Allred

HWN Recommends

Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis: The Forgotten Headache

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is becoming recognized as a more common and treatable disorder in young patients. Unfortunately, headaches are overwhelmingly common complaints in the emergency department (ED), so CVST can be easy to miss since it has confusing clinical and imaging findings... While it only represents about 1% of all strokes, its higher proportion of stroke in young patients makes it more relevant to the EM provider. Interestingly, an incidence of 9.3% of CVST was found on a pathology study, suggesting it is very under diagnosed in the ED.

Risk factors

The most clear cut risk factors for CVST are hypercoagulable states. This category…

read full article

Resources

 Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis: The Forgotten Headache

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVT) is becoming recognized as a more common and treatable disorder in young patients. Unfortunately, headaches are overwhelmingly common complaints in the emergency department (ED), so CVT can be easy to miss since it has confusing clinical and imaging findings.

Core EM

CVT often presents with non-specific symptoms making it difficult to diagnose. On first presentation, patients often do not have any physical exam findings.

EMCrit Project

Gadolinium allows for direct visualization of luminal filling, similar to a CT venogram. Thus, contrast MR venography is highly accurate, on par with CT venogram.

Life in the Fastlane

CVT is a rare condition (~1% of all strokes) that is more common in females (x3 risk) and younger adults (80% <50 years-old)

Pediatric EM Morsels

Thinking a patient has idiopathic intracranial hypertension (i.e., pseudotumor), check MRV when you get the MRI… there may be an associated Cerebral Venous Thrombosis!

Taming the SRU

CVT accounts for approximately 1% of all neurovascular disease and is three times more likely in women. This female predominance is likely due to hypercoagulability secondary to pregnancy/puerperium and oral contraceptives. CVT is more common in young patients, with 80% of patients under the age of 50 and a median age of 39 years.

CVST in Pregnancy

The significantly increased risk during pregnancy and in the peripartum period can be explained by pregnancy-induced hematologic changes, which continue for 6 to 8 weeks postpartum.

Introducing Stitches!

Your Path to Meaningful Connections in the World of Health and Medicine
Connect, Collaborate, and Engage!

Coming Soon - Stitches, the innovative chat app from the creators of HWN. Join meaningful conversations on health and medical topics. Share text, images, and videos seamlessly. Connect directly within HWN's topic pages and articles.


Be the first to know when Stitches starts accepting users


Stay Connected