Clinical characteristics and prognosis of cerebral venous thrombosis in Chinese women during pregnancy and puerperium

Abstract

Due to the specific physiology associated with pregnancy and puerperium, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVT) may manifest different characteristics. This study aimed to identify the clinical manifestations and prognosis of pregnancy-associated CVT. A total of 43 pregnancy-associated CVT patients were enrolled. We analysed the clinical presentations of the disease and performed a multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine which variables were associated with prognosis. Our descriptive results showed the following: 1) the incidence was 202 per 100,000 deliveries, and the mortality rate was 11.63%; 2) the most frequent symptom was headache; 3) the most frequent abnormal laboratory findings were increased levels of fibrinogen and several serum lipoproteins (including triglyceride, cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein, low-density lipoprotein, apolipoprotein A1, and apolipoprotein B); and 4) the superior sagittal sinus and transverse sinus were the most frequently affected locations. Moreover, an increased modified Rankin Scale score was positively associated with infection, seizure, intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP). Comparably, the occurrence of death was positively and significantly associated with infection, seizure and ICH. Consequently, timely diagnosis and treatment of pregnancy-associated CVT patients with infection, seizure, ICH or HDP are needed. Patients with infection, seizure or ICH have a greater risk of death.