Cerebral Venous Thrombosis in Young Adults: Unknown Origins

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 15; no. 7
• Main Authors: Zahoor, Hovra, Hamza, Ameer, Aigbe, Eboselumen, Guzman, Nilmarie, Nabizadeh-Eraghi, Payam
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Palo Alto Cureus Inc 16-07-2023; Cureus
• Subjects: Antibodies; Anticoagulants; Blood clots; Case reports; COVID-19; Extubation; Females; Headaches; Hematology; Hemorrhage; Hydrocephalus; Intensive care; Internal Medicine; Lupus; Magnetic resonance imaging; Medical imaging; Neurology; Rehabilitation; Sinuses; Stroke; Thrombocytopenia; Thrombosis; Veins & arteries; Young adults
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.41970

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a relatively rare neurological disorder that may result in significant morbidity if not diagnosed and managed promptly. The clinical presentation of CVT is nonspecific and highly variable with acute, subacute, or chronic onset. It most often presents as a headache but may present with focal neurological symptoms, symptoms of intracranial hypertension, or encephalopathy. The predisposing factors for CVT are mainly acquired and genetic hypercoagulable conditions. However, the epidemiology, predisposing factors, and clinical presentation of CVT are not clearly established given the rare nature of the condition. We present a case series of three young patients who did not have any classic underlying etiology for CVT or any prior diagnosis of venous thrombosis. We want to report this case series to show that a high index of suspicion should be maintained regardless of the absence of risk factors.