Acute symptomatic seizures in cerebral venous thrombosis

To identify characteristics, predictors, and outcomes of acute symptomatic seizures (ASS) in cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT), we investigated 1,281 consecutive adult patients with CVT included from 12 hospitals within the International CVT Consortium.

We defined ASS as any seizure between symptom onset and 7 days after diagnosis of CVT. We stratified ASS into pre-diagnosis and solely post-diagnosis ASS. Status epilepticus (SE) was also analyzed separately. We analyzed predictors for ASS, and association between ASS and clinical outcome (modified Rankin Scale) with multivariable logistic regression.

Of 1,281 eligible patients, 441 (34%) had ASS. Baseline predictors for ASS were intracerebral hemorrhage ([ICH], adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 4.1, 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.0–5.5), cerebral edema/infarction without ICH (aOR 2.8, 95% CI 2.0–4.0), cortical vein thrombosis (aOR 2.1, 95%CI 1.5–2.9), superior sagittal sinus thrombosis (aOR 2.0, 95% CI 1.5–2.6), focal neurologic deficit ...