Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis MRI

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Kalsang Dolma, M.B.B.S.[2] Sharmi Biswas, M.B.B.S

MRI venography of the brain is considered the most confirmatory test in cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.

Cerebral edema and venous infarction may be apparent.

MR venography with MRI is the most sensitive test for diagnosing cerebral venous thrombosis irrespective of acute, subacute and chronic stage. Flow defect, collateral vessels and non visualization of flow can be detected by MRV. Hypointense signal in T2 weighted MRI and isointense in T1 weighted MRI is found in the first 5 days of thrombosis and persists up to 15th day. In the 3rd week, the signals get diminished.