Clinical characteristics of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis

OBJECTIVES: 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.