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Association Between Anemia and Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: Case-Control Study
Jonathan M Coutinho1, Susanna M Zuurbier2, Aafke E Gaartman2
1From the Departments of Neurology (J.M.C., S.M.Z., A.E.G., A.A.D., J.S.) and Vascular Medicine (S.M.), Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands (S.C.C.). j.coutinho@amc.nl.
Anemia is a significant risk factor for cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT). This controlled study found anemia more frequent in CVT patients, confirming its association with this condition.
Area of Science:
- Neurology
- Hematology
- Thrombosis Research
Background:
- Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) risk factors are not fully understood.
- Anemia is anecdotally linked to CVT, but robust evidence is lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between anemia and cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT).
- To determine if anemia is an independent risk factor for CVT.
Main Methods:
- Unmatched case-control study comparing 152 CVT patients with 2916 controls.
- Anemia defined by World Health Organization criteria.
- Logistic regression analysis adjusted for confounders.
Main Results:
- Anemia was significantly more frequent in CVT cases (27.0%) than controls (6.5%).
- Anemia showed a strong association with CVT (adjusted odds ratio, 4.4).
- Lower hemoglobin levels correlated with increased CVT risk.
Conclusions:
- Anemia is a significant risk factor for cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT).
- Findings support the clinical consideration of anemia in CVT risk assessment.
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