Acute cerebral venous thrombosis : still an underdiagnosed pathology in emergency computed tomography of the brain

Purpose: Acute cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a rare condition that can lead to a serious clinical state; thus, prompt diagnosis and treatment are mandatory. Head computed tomography (CT) plays a crucial role in the initial prompt diagnosis in the emergency setting. The aim of the study was to retrospectively analyse emergency head CT studies and the rate of incorrect diagnoses and main sources of pitfalls. Material and methods: Retrospective analysis of 31 emergency CT studies (22 without contrast, 19F/12M, age range: 4-94 years) of patients with confirmed acute CVT. Results: Thrombosed dural sinuses were found in 24/31 (77.4%) cases, thrombosed veins in 7/31 (22.6%) cases, no lesions within vessels in 2/31 (6.5%) cases. Haemorrhagic brain lesions were found in 9/31 (29%) cases, hypodense oedema in 6/31 (19.6%) cases, brain swelling in 1/31 (3.2%) cases, and no parenchymal lesions were revealed in 15/31 (48.4%) cases. Correct diagnosis of CVT was established in 15 cases (48.4%); however, it was incorrect in 16 cases (51.6%). Incorrect cases consist of 4 groups: 1 - with both vascular and parenchymal lesions that were overlooked (50%), 2 - with vascular lesions only, which were either overlooked, misinterpreted, or covered by artefacts (31.3%,), 3 - with parenchymal lesions only, which were misinterpreted (12.5%), and 4 - with no lesions present in the emergency head CT (6.2%). Conclusions: The high rate of incorrect diagnoses of acute CVT based on emergency head CT requires constant training of radiologists and their close cooperation with clinicians because a delayed diagnosis may be lethal to the patient.