Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: review of cases in a single centre in Malaysia

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is a potentially fatal neurological condition. However, due to the non-specific clinical and radiological features of CVST, it can sometimes result in a delay in the diagnosis and subsequent management. The aim of this study was to evaluate the demography, risk factors and one-year outcome of CVST patients treated in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia.

In this retrospective study, we reviewed the cases diagnosed with CVST admitted to our centre from January 2011 until November 2015.

A total of 15 patients were included in this review. The patterns of imaging findings as well as risk factors for CVST is discussed with a review of the literature and current management practices. One year followed-up showed full recovery (Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) of 5) in 10 cases (66.7%), whereas 4 cases (26.7%) with GOS of 4 (three cases with neurological deficits, and 1 case with mild symptom. There was one case of mortality in this study secondary to sepsis during hospitalisation. The presenting symptoms were mainly headache, focal neurology deficits, seizure and altered sensorium. Risk factors identified were oral contraceptive pills usage, chronic sinuses or ear infections, and obesity. Initial computed tomography (CT) scan showed various findings and haemorrhagic infarct was one of the common findings. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and magnetic resonance venography (MRV) revealed majority of the patients had occlusion at two or more venous sinus sites. No patients had new or recurrent intracranial haemorrhage following initiation of anticoagulation therapy.

Thus it is considerable safe to start anticoagulation therapy in CVST patients including those with intracranial haemorrhage. We propose further neuroimaging to avoid missed diagnosis of CVST in patient presented with recent onset headache and CT evidence of unusual cerebral infarction.