Spontaneous Intracranial Hypotension Plus Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: A Case Report Study

Abstract

This is a case study of a 34-year-old woman who was admitted to hospital with a history of severe orthostatic headache. She was diagnosed as having spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) by undetectable cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure at lumbar puncture, and with evidence of diffuse dural enhancement of the brain detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). However, the contrast-enhanced MRI of the spinal cord did not show a CSF leak site and she was treated conservatively. After a few days, the patient’s recurrence of headache with continuous duration and progressive worsening led to further investigations by contrast-enhanced MRI, magnetic resonance venography (MRV) and computed tomography venography (CTV) that showed an extensive thrombosis in the superior sagittal sinus, left sigmoid sinus and both transverse sinuses. Then, the patient was treated successfully with heparin and oral anticoagulant. She had no neurological deficit after six months. SIH with concomitant intracranial cerebral venous thrombosis is a rare condition. We hypothesize that SIH may change cerebral blood-flow velocity and viscosity and can cause intracranial cerebral venous thrombosis.

Keywords

• Intracranial Hypotension
• Venous Thrombosis
• Headache