Clinical characteristics of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis

OBJECTIVE To investigate the risk factors, clinical presentation, neuroimaging features, treatment, and prognosis of patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the data of 19 patients with a diagnosis of CVST admitted to Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China between January 2010 and December 2013. RESULTS There were 9 men and 10 women (age range: 27-75 years). Headache (84.2%) and focal signs (57.9%) were the 2 most common symptoms. Direct evidence of thrombosis was found on CT in 42.1%, and on MRI in 52.6%. Two or more sinuses were involved in 78.9% of cases, in which the transverse sinus plus sigmoid sinus were the most commonly involved combination. All patients received anticoagulant therapy. Most patients (84.2%) had no neurological sequelae at discharge, and only 3 patients (15.8%) recovered with sequelae. CONCLUSION Our study provides detailed information on the clinical manifestations, neuroimages, management, outcome, and risk factors of the patients with CVST.