Outcomes and Recurrence Rates Among Patients With Provoked and Cryptogenic Cerebral Venous Thrombosis: Analysis of the ACTION CVT.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a rare cause of stroke. While the standard treatment is anticoagulation, the type and duration of anticoagulation depends on the underlying etiology. This study aims to identify prevalence, risk factors, and recurrent venous thromboembolism (VTE) rates among patients with idiopathic (cryptogenic) CVT and CVT provoked by transient (peripartum, hormonal treatment, infection, trauma) and persistent (cancer, thrombophilia) factors.

Methods: We used the ACTION-CVT retrospective database which included consecutive patients who were treated for CVT in 27 stroke centers in the United States, Europe, and New Zealand from January 2015 to December 2020. We compared baseline characteristics and outcomes of patients with cryptogenic, transient provoked (TP) and those with persistent provoked (PP) CVT. Baseline characteristics was compared between the groups using χ² test, t test, or Mann-Whitney U test as appropriate, followed by multivariable regression. We used Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to assess outcome occurrence. We used interaction analysis and Cox regression to assess the risks of recurrent VTE in patients with CVT.

Results: Among 1,025 included participants with CVT, 510 (49.8%) had no identified risk factor (cryptogenic), 363 (35.4%) had at least one transient provoking factor, and 152 (14.8%) had a persistent provoking factor. Patients with TP CVT were younger (p = 0.003) and more likely to be female patients (p < 0.001). When compared with patients with TP CVT, the risk of recurrent VTE was greater in patients with PP CVT (HR 2.59, 95% CI 1.29-5.22, p = 0.008) and nonsignificantly elevated in patients with cryptogenic CVT (HR 1.85. 95% CI 0.98-3.59, p = 0.059). In the interaction analysis, there was a trend toward higher rate of recurrent VTE in female patients with cryptogenic CVT and male patients with PP CVT.

Discussion: In this multicenter study, we found that outcomes of CVT differed depending on the underlying etiology. The risk of recurrent VTE in the PP and cryptogenic CVTs may be influenced by sex.