A study of factors associated with cerebral venous thrombosis

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon but important cause of stroke. Since there are few number of studies about the factors associated with CVT, we aimed to perform a study on Iranian patients, during a 12-year period (1997-2010) and assessed the risk factors, mortality rate, symptoms and signs, imaging and seasonal distribution. This study was a retrospective cross sectional study conducted in Rasul-e-Akram Hospital of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The hospital is a referral neurology center for west, south and east parts of the capital city. The patients' data were extracted from the documents and entered to a self-designed checklist including probable risk factors, sequels, involved venous and also demographic characteristics. From 62 patients, 85.5% of the patients were female. Most of the patients were between 25 and 35 years old. Superior sagittal sinus was involved in 35 patients. Generalized seizure in the expired group (7 patients) was significantly more than the alive group (P = 0.017). There was a significant relationship between intracranial hemorrhage and mortality rate and between the site of thrombosis and level of consciousness. There was also a significant relationship between fasting and pregnancy with seizure in these patients. Although most of the patients presented in spring and autumn, majority of the expired cases were reported in autumn. This study can help defining risk factors, symptoms, and predicting risk factors of seizure in patients with CVT. We suggest future studies based on gathering data for meta-analysis.