Intracranial hypertension after cerebral venous thrombosis-Risk factors and outcomes

Abstract

Background and purpose: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a special cerebrovascular disease that accounts for around 0.5%-1.0% of all strokes and often occurs in younger adults. Intracranial hypertension is the most frequent symptom of acute CVT due to venous occlusion. This study aimed to ascertain the risk factors for intracranial hypertension after CVT and to investigate whether intracranial hypertension at diagnosis may affect patient outcomes.

Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of all patients treated for acute/subacute CVT at our department between 2018 and 2021. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify potential risk factors associated with intracranial hypertension after CVT and clinical outcomes at the 6-month follow-up.

Results: A total of 293 acute/subacute CVT survivors were eligible for inclusion, with 245 patients (83.60%) experiencing concomitant intracranial hypertension at diagnosis. In the multivariable regression analysis, hereditary thrombophilia (OR 2.210, 95% CI 1.148-4.254, p = 0.018) and thrombosis location of superior sagittal sinus (SSS) and right lateral sinus (LS) (OR 4.115, 95% CI 1.880-9.010, p = 0.000) were independently associated with intracranial hypertension. 83.67% of patients with intracranial hypertension after CVT had favorable functional outcomes (mRS score, 0-2), whereas they more often had residual visual impairment (15.51% vs. 4.17%, p = 0.036) at follow-up. The risk factors for residual visual impairment were papilledema (OR 2.971, 95% CI 1.231-7.170, p = 0.015) and visual disturbances at diagnosis (OR 2.869, 95% CI 1.123-7.327, p = 0.028), thrombosis location (SSS and right LS [OR 10.811, 95% CI 4.208-27.773, p = 0.000]; SSS and left LS [OR 3.139, 95% CI 1.409-6.995, p = 0.005]), and CVT recurrence (OR 4.763, 95% CI 1.556-14.584, p = 0.006).

Conclusions: Intracranial hypertension is the most common clinical symptom of acute CVT. At follow-up, patients with intracranial hypertension after CVT were more prone to develop residual visual impairment.

Keywords: cerebral venous thrombosis; cerebrovascular disease; intracranial hypertension; raised intracranial pressure; residual visual impairment.