Rinsho Shinkeigaku (Clinical Neurology)

Case Report

Cerebral venous thrombosis as a complication of nephrotic syndrome
-A case report and literature review-

Hirotaka Iwaki, M.D.1)2), Shuichiro Neshige, M.D.1), Naoyuki Hara, M.D.1)3), Shinichi Takeshima, M.D.1), Kazuhiro Takamatsu, M.D.1) and Masaru Kuriyama, M.D., Ph.D.1)

1)Department of Neurology, Brain Attack Center Ota Memorial Hospital
2)Present address; Department of Neurology and Clinical Pharmacology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine
3)Present address; Department of Neurology, Hiroshima City Hospital

We report two cases of cerebral venous thrombosis as a complication of nephrotic syndrome. No urine protein or kidney disease was noted in either case. The patients were diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome after admission to our hospital. Case 1: The patient was a 46-year-old man. He experienced headache and vomiting the day after he drank heavily. Contrast brain computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a defect in the transverse sinus, straight sinus, and superior sagittal sinus. His blood was hemo-concentrated, and blood test results indicated high D-dimer and fibrinogen levels and decrease of antithrombin III. Case 2: The patient was an 89-year-old woman. After the diarrhea lasted suffering from ischemic colitis, she developed left hemiplegia and headache. Brain CT revealed hematoma in the subcortical region of the right frontal lobe and a high signal in the straight sinus. The superior sagittal sinus showed high-signal intensity on T1-weighted MRI and mild high-signal intensity on T2-weighted MRI. High fibrinogen levels were detected in the blood. Patients with nephrotic syndrome have a thrombotic tendency; both venous thrombosis and arterial thrombosis may occur. In the literature, the number of published cases of cerebral venous thrombosis was 10-fold that of cerebral artery thrombosis as a complication of nephrotic syndrome in individuals aged ‹20 years. In adults, however, the number of cerebral venous thrombosis was 2-fold that of cerebral artery thrombosis cases were reported. Nephrotic syndrome shows a thrombotic tendency, but cerebral venous thrombosis may develop as a result of another thrombotic factor. Management of life along with the conventional treatment of nephrotic syndrome is important.
Full Text of this Article in Japanese PDF (3018K)

(CLINICA NEUROL, 54: 495|501, 2014)
key words: cerebral venous thrombosis, nephrotic syndrome, thrombotic tendency, antithrombin III, superior sagittal sinus thrombosis

(Received: 22-Sep-13)