Citation: [Peer-Reviewed, Web Publication] Rusinak T (2016, December 13). Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis: The Forgotten Headache [NUEM Blog. Expert Commentary By Rusinak D]. Retrieved from http://www.nuemblog.com/blog/cerebral-venous-sinus-thrombosis
"Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVT) is becoming recognized as a more common and treatable disorder in young patients. Unfortunately, headaches are overwhelmingly common complaints in the emergency department (ED), so CVT can be easy to miss since it has confusing clinical and imaging findings. Emergency medicine (EM) physicians should be aware of various clinical presentations as well as risk factors. While it only represents about 1% of all strokes, its higher proportion of stroke in young patients makes it more relevant to the EM provider. Interestingly, an incidence of 9.3% of CVT was found on a pathology study, suggesting it is very under diagnosed in the ED...
Summary
CT venography is now readily available, faster, cheaper and just as if not more reliable in detecting cerebral venous thrombosis than MR, though data is limited. In women on hormonal contraceptives with new or worsening headache, clinicians must consider cerebral venous thrombosis and get an appropriate diagnostic test to evaluate for this disease."