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• Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: heparin or nothing.
  M B Lewis
  Published on: 19 January 2000

• Published on: 19 January 2000

  Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis: heparin or nothing.

  • M B Lewis, Neurology SpR

  A recent review article in your journal gives the impression that the case for heparinisation of patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is proven [1]. The largest and most robust study did not come to this conclusion and its results did not achieve statistical significance [2]. Given that CVT has a spectrum of presentations from headache to coma, a blanket approach to treatment in the absence of good evidence and...

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  A recent review article in your journal gives the impression that the case for heparinisation of patients with cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is proven [1]. The largest and most robust study did not come to this conclusion and its results did not achieve statistical significance [2]. Given that CVT has a spectrum of presentations from headache to coma, a blanket approach to treatment in the absence of good evidence and continued debate [3] does not seem sensible.

  1. Allroggen H, Abbott RJ. Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. Postgrad Med J 2000;76:12-15.

  2. de Bruijn SF, Stam J, for the CVST Study Group. Randomised, placebo-controlled trial of anticoagulant treatment with low-molecular- weight heparin for cerebral sinus thrombosis. Stroke 1999;30:484-488.

  3. Lewis MB. Cerebral venous thrombosis: nothing, heparin, or local thrombolysis? Stroke 1999;30:1729.

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  Conflict of Interest:
  None declared.

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