Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis presentation in emergency department in Van, Turkey

To exmaine the distribution of age, gender, time between onset and presentation, clinical findings, predisposing factors, platelet distribution width, mean platelet volume values and neuroimaging findings, together with the treatment regime and the outcome for patients of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.

The retrospective, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Yuzuncu Yil University, Medical Faculty Hospital in Van, Turkey, comprising 51 cases diagnosed with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis between January 2008 and September 2011. The diagnosis was based on the results of clinical evaluation, cranial magnetic resonance imaging and venography. SPSS 16 was used for statistical analysis.

Overall, 43 (84.3%) of the cases were female, and 8 (15.7%) were male.The average age was 32 +/- 11.13 years The most frequent symptom was headache in 41 (80.4%) cases. The postpartum period was one of the most observed predisposing factors in 17 (33.3%) patients. The magnetic resonance imaging was normal in 35 (68.6%) cases, but in all of the cases, magnetic resonance venography was abnormal. Topographically, the most frequent involvement was transverse sinus in 40 (78.4%) cases. Besides, 50 (98%) patients were discharged following full recovery or mild sequela and only 1 (2%) case had severe sequela.

Patients presenting with headache should be examined carefully in the emergency department. Early diagnosis and treatment with clinical and neuroimaging techniques for such patients is recommended.