Dural Venous Sinus Intervention
Dural Venous Sinus Intervention
Most patients with dural venous sinus thrombosis (DVST), which is blood clots of major brain veins, recover after receiving anticoagulants. But for a small group of high-risk patients, an intervention with minimally invasive treatment can boost outcomes. At Vascular & Interventional Partners in Scottsdale, AZ, we have extensive experience treating patients at risk of complications of DVST.
Benefits of Dural Venous Sinus Intervention
Most patients with DVST can be safely treated with anticoagulants. These drugs dissolve the blood clot blocking major veins in the brain over the course of several hours. In patients who do not respond to these drugs as expected or who have severe symptoms, doctors may choose DVST interventions since they provide the following benefits:
- Greater efficiency — Some blood clots do not dissolve fast enough with anticoagulant injections. Directly administering thrombolytic drugs to the blood clot leads to more efficient results.
- Immediate effects — If patients require quick treatment, the use of mechanical thrombolysis can restore blood flow in the brain within minutes.
- Effective against large clots — Anti-coagulants alone or even thrombolytic drugs are not enough to dissolve particularly large clots. In that case, interventional radiologists can combine thrombectomy with thrombolysis to remove the clot.
- Better outcomes — Patients who do not recover fast enough or who have severe clots benefit greatly by having an additional treatment option aside from anticoagulants.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are dural venous sinuses?
Dural venous sinuses are seven major blood channels that drain deoxygenated blood from the brain back to the lungs and heart. Some of these sinuses also have additional roles in circulating cerebrospinal fluid.
Who is at risk of dural sinus thrombosis?
Dural sinus thrombosis is extremely rare, affecting five out of a million people each year. Groups most at risk of developing this condition are pregnant and postpartum women, people with conditions that affect blood clots, cancer patients, and those with certain inflammatory conditions.
What are the symptoms of dural sinus thrombosis?
Symptoms of dural sinus thrombosis vary depending on the location of the blood clot. Usual symptoms include headache, blurred vision, fainting or loss of consciousness, inability to move a limb, and difficulty speaking. In women who are about to or have given birth, seizures are also common.
What should I do if I have symptoms of dural sinus thrombosis?
Respond quickly by having someone take you to an emergency room or call 911. Dural sinus thrombosis is a medical emergency that requires an immediate response to avoid serious complications, including death.
When should you receive thrombectomy/thrombolysis?
Most patients need to have a thrombectomy or thrombolysis within eight hours after their symptoms begin for these treatments to be effective. However, doctors may choose to perform these procedures even twelve hours after the symptoms begin.
How safe is a mechanical thrombectomy?
The safety of mechanical thrombectomy was extensively studied in stroke patients. So far, research has shown it to be a safe and effective procedure. Less is known about its safety in dural venous sinus thrombosis because this condition is extremely rare and hard to study. However, we have seen first-hand that this procedure can be effective in some cases.