Q) What is the recanalization rate in cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) after anticoagulation treatment?

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A) A systemic review and meta-analysis of 818 patients with CVT showed that the overall rate of recanalization was 85%.  The rate of complete recanalization was  49% and the rate of partial recanalization was 35%. The overall recanalization tended to increase with time. By 3 months, three quarters of the patients achieve recanalization.  

 

Clinical predictors of recanalization were female sex, younger age and having an identified etiologic condition for CVT.

 

There was a significant increase chance of favorable outcomes (mRS, 0-1) in patients with recanalization with a pooled odds ratio of 3.3. It is unclear whether the lack of recanalization should influence the anticoagulation treatment duration, as the evidence of its correlation and CVT recurrence was scarce.

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Reference:
1) Aguiar de Sousa D, Lucas Neto L, Canhão P, Ferro JM. Recanalization in Cerebral Venous Thrombosis. Stroke. 2018;49(8):1828-1835.

2) Leach JL, Wolujewicz M, Strub WM. Partially recanalized chronic dural sinus thrombosis: findings on MR imaging, time-of-flight MR venography, and contrast-enhanced MR venography. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2007;28(4):782-789.