Anticoagulation delay does not affect the functional outcome of cerebral venous thrombosis

Abstract

Available knowledge about the impact of anticoagulation delay on outcomes of patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is limited. We therefore assessed the factors influencing anticoagulation delay and investigated the effect of this delay on outcomes of CVT patients. Anticoagulation delay was defined as the time interval between symptom onset and anticoagulation initiation. The primary outcome was a modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score > 2 at the final follow-up. A total of 164 eligible patients were included. The median anticoagulation delay was 9 days. Cerebral hemorrhage on admission neuroimaging correlated with earlier anticoagulation (p = 0.040). Anticoagulation delay was not associated with poor functional outcome (mRS > 2), but it was associated with residual headache across the entire cohort (earlier anticoagulation: 15/76 [19.7%] vs. later anticoagulation: 28/79 [35.4%]; p = 0.029) and in the subgroup with isolated intracranial hypertension (earlier anticoagulation: 4/25 [16.0%] vs. later anticoagulation: 14/27 [51.9%]; p = 0.007). Anticoagulation delay was found to be common among patients with CVT. Anticoagulation delay was not associated with poor functional outcome, but may have led to an increased risk of residual headache across our entire cohort and in the subgroup with isolated intracranial hypertension.