Review Article
Dural Sinus Thrombosis in the South Asian Countries with Special Emphasis on Pakistan; a Review
Abidullah Khan, Zahidullah Khan and Maimoona Ayub
Correspondence Address :
Abidullah Khan
Department of Medicine, KTH Peshawar
Pakistan
Email: dr.abidullahk@gmail.com
Received on: March 06, 2017, Accepted on: April 01, 2017, Published on: April 07, 2017
Citation: Abidullah Khan, Zahidullah Khan, Maimoona Ayub (2017). Dural Sinus Thrombosis in the South Asian Courtiers with Special Emphasis on Pakistan; a Review
Copyright: 2017 Abidullah Khan, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Dural sinus thrombosis (DST) represents a rare form of venous thromboembolism (VTE), accounting for almost 1-3% of all the types of cerebrovascular accidents. In contrast to ischemic or hemorrhagic strokes which are common in the elderly, DST affects predominantly the younger population, with an estimated incidence for adults of 3-4/100, 000, 0 of the general population. Generally speaking, infective etiologies were the leading precipitants in the pre-antibiotics era worldwide. However, being a developing and infection prone country, infectious conditions especially infective meningoencephalitis are one of the commonest causes leading to DST in Pakistan.
The diagnosis of DST needs high threshold for suspicion. This is especially true in patients with meningitis or sinusitis who present with focal neurological deficit and/or are refractory to usual treatment. Early recognition and treatment is of paramount importance. Intravenous, wide spectrum antibiotics plus anticoagulation with low molecular weight heparin are the mainstay of treatment.
Although, there is a plethora of published data available over the different aspects of DST internationally, there is unfortunately a relative paucity of information when focusing on Pakistan. This review will highlight the burden of DST in the south Asian countries and at a tertiary care hospital of Pakistan with special emphasis on its common etiologies, pathogenesis, presentation and management.
Keywords: Cerebral, Dural, Venous, Thrombosis, Thrombophilia, Meningitis