Spectrum of findings and diagnostic pitfalls of MRI in patients with cerebral venous thrombosis

Abstract

Thrombotic occlusion of a cerebral venous sinus is an uncommon cause of stroke, causes less than 1% of all strokes with an estimated annual incidence of between two and seven cases per million in the general population. Aim of this study is to evaluate both MRI and MRV findings in CVT suspected patients and find the reasons for mismatches between these two and indicate the pitfalls of MRI in diagnosing CVT, so even by ordering the MRI alone, clinicians would be able to diagnose the possible CVT and prevent secondary complications of misdiagnosis and mistreatment. Materials and Methods: patients suspected of having CVT will be extracted from hospital and patients having diagnostic criteria for MRV will be included in the study. MRV findings with radiologist description for each abnormality will be recorded, then another radiologist will report the findings in MRI of the same patients and these two set of data will be matched and compared in order to find which one has the highest sensitivity and which has the highest specificity in diagnosing CVT. Results: in 3 patinets TOF was positive that is not positive in MRI. in 3 patients the MRI was positive that was not positive in TOF.