Long-Term Mortality Risk Low After Cerebral Vein Thrombosis

(HealthDay News) – For patients who survive a cerebral vein thrombosis (CVT), the long-term risk of mortality and recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) seems to be low.

Francesco Dentali, MD, from the University of Insubria in Varese, Italy, and colleagues retrospectively assessed long-term mortality rates, residual disability, and recurrent VTE in an international cohort of 706 patients (73.7% female) with a first CVT episode who were followed for a median of 40 months (range, 6–297 months).

Over the follow-up period, the researchers found that 2.8% of patients died, 89.1% had a complete recovery (modified Rankin Score [mRS], 0–1), and 3.8% had a partial recovery and were independent (mRS, 2). The mean treatment duration was 12 months, during which time 84% of patients were treated with oral anticoagulants. CVT recurred in 4.4% of patients, and 6.5% had VTE in a different site, corresponding with an overall incidence of recurrence of 23.6 events per 1,000 patient-years and of 35.1 events per 1,000 patient years after anticoagulant therapy withdrawal. The only significant predictor of recurrence in multivariate analysis was a previous VTE (hazard ratio, 2.70).

“The long-term risk of mortality and recurrent VTE appears to be low in patients who survived the acute phase of CVT,” the authors write.

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