CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2006; 16(02): 276
DOI: 10.4103/0971-3026.29110
Original Article

Dural venous thrombosis - A neglected finding on routine MRI sequences

Anil Kumar
India
,
A Mukund
India
,
G Sharma
India
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
 

Abstract

Objectives - To establish the role of routine MR sequences in diagnosis of dural venous sinus thrombosis. Materials and Methods - As dural venous sinus thrombosis has a non specific presentation, all the patients coming to our department for MRI head between March 2003 and May 2005 were looked for abnormal signal intensity within the dural sinuses. Twenty seven cases having loss of normal flow void within the major dural venous sinuses on routine sequences (FSE T2, SE T1 & FLAIR) were thought of having dural sinus thrombosis and so were further evaluated by MR venography. This study was carried out using 0.2 Tesla open magnet MR scanner (GE signa profile 4). Results - On routine MR sequences absence of dural sinus flow void was noted in twenty seven patients and suspicion of cerebral venous thrombosis was raised. The diagnosis of thrombosis was confirmed in twenty three patients by 2-D TOF MR venography and no thrombosis could be demonstrated in remaining four patients. Thirteen patients had multiple sinus involved whereas in ten patients only single sinus was involved. Out of these twenty three patients, apart from thrombosis, six had infarcts, three had mastoiditis and one of them had cerebellar abscess too. Hemorrhage was noted in five patients and the most interesting fact was that nine patients had normal brain parenchyma. Conclusion - Dural venous sinus thrombosis appears as loss of normal flow void on routine sequences especially on FSE T2W and FLAIR images. This fact may help us suspect DVT, and the finding can be confirmed by MR venography so that further management can be planned promptly.

Keywords

Dural venous sinus thrombosis - MRI - MR venography


Publication History

Article published online:
02 August 2021

© 2006. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Private Ltd.
A-12, Second Floor, Sector -2, NOIDA -201301, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Bousser M.G; Cerebral venous thrombosis: diagnosis and management, J Neurol. 2000; 247:252-258.
  • 2 Vogl TJ, Bergman C, Villringer A, Einhaupl K, Lissner J and Felix R. Dural sinus thrombosis: value of venous MR angiography for diagnosis and follow up. AJR 1994; 162: 1191-1198.
  • 3 Provenzale JM. CT and MR Imaging of Nontraumatic Neurologic emergencies. AJR 2000; 174: 289-299.
  • 4 Villringer A, Mehraen S, Einhδupl KM. Pathophysiological aspects of cerebral sinus venous thrombosis. J Neuroradiol 1994;21:72-80.
  • 5 Ameri A, Bousser MG. Cerebral venous thrombosis. Neurol Clin 1992;10:87-111.
  • 6 Provenzale JM, Joseph GJ, Barboriak DP. Dural sinus thrombosis: findings on CT and MRI imaging and diagnostic pitfalls. AJR 1998;170:777-783.
  • 7 Virapongse C, Cazenave C, Quisling R, Sarwar M, Hunter S. The empty delta sign: frequency and significance in 76 cases of dural sinus thrombosis. Radiology 1987; 162: 779-785.
  • 8 Buonanno FS, Moody DM and Ball MR. Computed cranial tomographic findings in cerebral sinovenous occlusion. J Comput Assist Tomogr 1978; 2: 281-290.
  • 9 Casey SO, Alberico RA, Patel M, Jinenez JM, Ozsuath RR, Maguire WM and Taylor ML. Cerebral CT venography. Radiology 1996; 198: 163-170.
  • 10 Liauw L, Van Buchem MA, Spilt A, Bruine FT, Berg R, Hermans Jo and Wasser MNJM. MR angiography of the intracranial venous system. Radiology 2000; 214: 678-682.
  • 11 Cure JK, Tassel PV, Smith MT. Normal and variant anatomy of the dural venous sinuses. Seminars US, CT and MR. 1994; 15: 499-519.
  • 12 Zimmerman RD, Ernst RJ. Neuroimaging of cerebral venous thrombosis. Neuroimaging clinics North America 1992; 2: 463-485.
  • 13 Isensee, C, reul, J., Thron, A. Magnetic resonance imaging of thrombosed dural sinuses. Stroke. 1994; 25:29-34.
  • 14 Cure JK, Tassel PV. Congenital and acquired abnormalities of the dural venous sinuses. Seminars in US, CT and MRI 1994; 6: 520-539.