Thrombolytic therapy in cerebral venous sinus thrombosis

The use of thrombolytic agents to rapidly lyse the clot has emerged as a therapeutic modality, in concert with interventional neuroradiologic approaches to deliver the agent locally at the site of thrombosis. There are no randomized, double blind, placebo, controlled trials to support thrombolysis as a first line therapy in patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis compared to standard therapy using anticoagulation with weight based dose adjusted unfractionated Heparin. Numerous case reports and a single non randomized trial have shown that it is comparatively safe and may rescue patients who are deteriorating despite anticoagulation with unfractionated Heparin. Consideration must be given to the use of thrombolysis in this group. This is an approach that must be restricted to centers with considerable experience in neurointerventional therapy.