What is cerebral venous thrombosis?

Also known as: cerebral sinovenous thrombosis, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, sinus, cerebral vein thrombosis and CSVT.

Cerebral venous thrombosis is an increasingly recognized cause of stroke in a newborn baby, or children, about 40% of childhood CSVT’s.

A blood clot develops in the venous sinuses of the brain, for a number of reasons, which blocks the flow of blood out of the brain. This leads to blood leaking out of the cerebral veins (hemorrhage) and if the venous pressure is high enough, a decrease in arterial blood flow into the brain with brain damage caused by lack of oxygen.

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Reviewed by: Jack Wolfsdorf, MD, FAAP

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM