Acute Stroke Is One Of The Major Cause Of Morbidity And Mortality. It
Can Be Arterial Or Venous In Origin. Venous Infarction, Compared To Arterial
Stroke, Is Less Common, Potentially Treatable And So Has A Good Prognosis.
Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Is Not An Uncommon Disease. The
Presenting Signs And Symptoms Of Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis Is So
Vague And Diverse That It Is Referred To As `The Great Masquerador Of Diseases'.
Without CT Or MRI Many Cases Would Be Missed Since The Clinician Is
Unsuspected Of This Disease. With The Widespread Availability Of CT And MRI,
And The Awareness Of This Pathology Among General Physicians And
Obstetricians, The Rate Of Diagnosis Of This Disease Has Increased Manifold
During The Last Two Decades.
Many A Times Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Is Unsuspected By The
Treating Clinician That The Disease Is First Diagnosed By The Radiologists.
It Is Important On The Part Of The Radiologist To Promptly Diagnose
Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Since With Early Treatment The Pathology Is Almost
Completely Reversible And So Has A Very Good Prognosis.
Catheter Angiography Is The Gold Standard For Diagnosing Venous
Thrombosis. But The Preferred Modalities Are CT And MRI Since They Are
Noninvasive, Cheap And With Little Risk To The Patient.
Conventional CT, With And Without Contrast, Is A Good First
Investigation For Patients With Any CNS Signs And Symptoms. More Than 80%
Of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Can Be Diagnosed With This. It Is Also Useful In
Ruling Out Intracranial Tumors And Infections.
MRI And MRV Are More Sensitive Than CT In Diagnosing Cerebral
Venous Thrombosis. It Can Also Map The Extent Of Thrombosis And
Parenchymal Lesions. With Certain Criteria MRI Can Also Give A Prognostic
Valuation Of The Disease
