Imaging of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis

Abstract

Cerebral venous thrombosis is a rare cause of stroke. Imaging is essential for diagnosis. Although digital subtraction angiography is still considered by many to be the gold standard, it no longer plays a significant role in the diagnosis of cerebral venous thrombosis. MRI, which allows for imaging the parenchyma, vessels and clots, and CT are the reference techniques. CT is useful in case of contraindication to MRI. After presenting the radio-anatomy for MRI, we present the different MRI and CT acquisitions, their pitfalls and their limitations in the diagnosis of cerebral venous thrombosis.

Keywords

• cerebral vein
• cerebral venous thrombosis
• venous stroke
• dural sinus thrombosis
• intracranial hypertension
• MR venography