TY - JOUR
T1 - Prolonged Intra-Sinus Alteplase Infusion in Severe Case of CVST
AU - Sullinger, Danine P.
AU - Cho, Sung Min
AU - Farrokh, Salia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2020.
PY - 2022/2
Y1 - 2022/2
N2 - Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is an uncommon condition accounting for 0.5-1% of all strokes. It occurs more commonly in women, particularly in the age group of 20-40 years of age due to pregnancy and oral contraceptive use. Systemic anticoagulation is recommended as first line treatment but 10-20% of patients deteriorate despite medical treatment and require surgical or endovascular interventions. We summarize a 41-year-old female with a past medical history of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis who presented with headaches and worsening mental status. Further workup confirmed inferior sagittal sinus thrombus with intraventricular hemorrhage for which she was initiated on heparin continuous infusion. Due to worsening of clot burden and cerebral edema, a right frontal external ventricular drain was placed in addition to medical management of elevated ICP. Intravenous heparin infusion was stopped intermittently for such procedures. However, even when heparin was continued, sub-therapeutic and supra-therapeutic ranges were commonly observed, making anticoagulation management challenging. A new left-sided EVD had to be placed after increased IVH and worsening of hydrocephalus due to clotting. Due to patient’s clinical worsening, a microcatheter was placed in the straight sinus and continuous alteplase via intra-sinus catheter was initiated at a rate of 1 mg/hour. This was continued for 72 hours in addition to the continuous heparin infusion. Additionally, she received intraventricular alteplase 1 mg x 3 doses for IVH. Unfortunately, she continued to deteriorate despite maximal medical therapy. She was made comfort care and expired.
AB - Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is an uncommon condition accounting for 0.5-1% of all strokes. It occurs more commonly in women, particularly in the age group of 20-40 years of age due to pregnancy and oral contraceptive use. Systemic anticoagulation is recommended as first line treatment but 10-20% of patients deteriorate despite medical treatment and require surgical or endovascular interventions. We summarize a 41-year-old female with a past medical history of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis who presented with headaches and worsening mental status. Further workup confirmed inferior sagittal sinus thrombus with intraventricular hemorrhage for which she was initiated on heparin continuous infusion. Due to worsening of clot burden and cerebral edema, a right frontal external ventricular drain was placed in addition to medical management of elevated ICP. Intravenous heparin infusion was stopped intermittently for such procedures. However, even when heparin was continued, sub-therapeutic and supra-therapeutic ranges were commonly observed, making anticoagulation management challenging. A new left-sided EVD had to be placed after increased IVH and worsening of hydrocephalus due to clotting. Due to patient’s clinical worsening, a microcatheter was placed in the straight sinus and continuous alteplase via intra-sinus catheter was initiated at a rate of 1 mg/hour. This was continued for 72 hours in addition to the continuous heparin infusion. Additionally, she received intraventricular alteplase 1 mg x 3 doses for IVH. Unfortunately, she continued to deteriorate despite maximal medical therapy. She was made comfort care and expired.
KW - alteplase
KW - cerebral edema
KW - cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST)
KW - heparin
KW - intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH)
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U2 - 10.1177/0897190020958260
DO - 10.1177/0897190020958260
M3 - Article
C2 - 32924755
AN - SCOPUS:85091040090
SN - 0897-1900
VL - 35
SP - 140
EP - 147
JO - Journal of Pharmacy Practice
JF - Journal of Pharmacy Practice
IS - 1
ER -