Clinical characteristics and risk factor analysis of 118 patients with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis

Abstract

Objective: To analyze the clinical characteristics and thrombotic risk factors of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) in Chinese population, in order to provide reference for the clinical diagnosis, prevention and treatment of CVST. Methods: A total of 118 CVST patients who visited the Thrombosis and Hemostasis Clinic of Ruijin Hospital from January in 2015 to December in 2022 were enrolled. The clinical data, imaging characteristics, and thrombotic gene panel were collected, and independent risk factors for thrombosis, recurrence, and multi-site thrombosis in CVST patients were studied through univariate and multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among 118 CVST patients, 88.1% (104/118) patients firstly developed CVST at age younger than 45 years old.It revealed that 57.6% patients (68/118) only suffered CVST once,and 33.1% patients (39/118) experienced thrombotic events at least twice, while 37.3% patients (44/118) suffered multi-site venous thromboembolism (VTE). The superior sagittal sinus was the most common venous sinus to form thrombosis (77/118), and multi-sites of venous sinus were involved simultaneously in 54.2% patients (64/118). The risk factor screening for thrombophilia showed that 70.3% patients (83/118) carried at least one thrombotic risk factor, including 53.3% patients (63/118) with inherited risk factors and 32.2% patients (38/118) with acquired risk factors. The main risk factors for males were anticoagulant protein deficiency (35/66) and antiphospholipid syndrome (5/66), while the risk factors for females mainly included anticoagulant protein deficiency (20/52), pregnancy/postpartum period (11/47), and contraceptive use (5/47). Among 35 patients with unknown risk factors, more than 30% of them experienced recurrent or multi-site thrombosis, and the underlying etiology in these patients still need to be further investigated. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that both inherited risk factors (odds ratio, OR=21.643, 95% confidence interval， CI 9.455-49.544, P<0.0001) and acquired risk factors (OR=10.836, 95% CI 4.306-27.270, P<0.0001) were independent risk factors for the occurrence of CVST. Genetic risk factor (OR=2.270, 95% CI 1.021-5.048, P=0.044) was an independent risk factor for recurrent thrombosis in CVST patients. Conclusions: In Chinese population, CVST is more common in middle-aged and young populations.，with 70.3% patients carrying at least one thrombotic risk factor. Genetic risk factors are the main cause of CVST in China and the detectable rate is 53.3%, which is significantly higher than that (22%) reported abroad. The patients with genetic risk factors have a significantly increased risk of developing CVST or recurrent thrombosis. Identification of thrombotic risk factors, prevention, diagnosis and treatment should be carried out earlier for individuals with high-risk CVST.

Keywords

• |cerebral venous sinus thrombosis|clinical features|genetic risk factors|acquired risk factors