Trombosis venosa cerebral

OBJECTIVE : To identify the most relevant and advance aspects on epidemiology, etiology, etiopathogeny, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of cerebral venous thrombosis. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: The bibliographic references were identified by means of the search in PubMed of the publications of the last five years in English or Spanish with the term “cerebral venous thrombosis” or “intracranial sinus thrombosis” and their variant in Spanish in open access articles. Only it checked the accessible article of free way. RESULTS: Multicenter studies have defined the frequency of this disease and the risk factors involved in the development of venous thrombosis. There is higher incidence of the disease in females and due to the use of oral contraceptives. In addition, large variety of permanent and transitory risk factors have been reported. Patients present very diverse clinical manifestations. Headache is the most frequent. Venography magnetic resonance imaging is the most useful diagnostic tool today also venography tomography can also be used. The therapeutic management aims at the elimination of the thrombus in the acute phase and the prevention of recurrences. During the acute phase, treatment of intracranial hypertension, hydrocephalus and epileptic seizures is indicated. Chronic anticoagulation depends on several factors that constitute, at the same time, prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: It is important to identify cerebral venous thrombosis promptly in order to quickly initiate appropriate treatment, and avoid serious complications such as permanent neurological deficits or death. In the coming years, improvement of therapeutic guidelines should come up from new multicenter observational studies and more randomized specific clinical trials.