Characteristics and Outcomes of Children with Cerebral Sinus Venous Thrombosis

Background Cerebral sinus venous thrombosis (CSVT) is an uncommon condition in children with potentially serious outcomes. Large epidemiological studies in children with CSVT are few. The objective of this study is to evaluate the epidemiology and in-hospital outcomes of hospitalized children with CSVT in the United States. Methods We performed a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids’ Inpatient Database for the combined years 2016 and 2019. The database was queried using the diagnoses for intracranial and intraspinal phlebitis and thrombophlebitis, nonpyogenic thrombosis of the intracranial venous system, and cerebral infarction due to cerebral venous thrombosis. Sample weighting was employed to produce national estimates. Results Of 12,165,621 discharges, 3202 had CSVT (in-hospital prevalence 26.3 per 100,000 discharges). Male patients accounted for 57% of CSVT discharges. The median age was 8 years (interquartile range 1–16), with a U-shaped distribution with peaks in patients younger than 4 years and patients aged between 18 and 20 years. A total of 19.3% of children with CSVT had either hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke. Patients with stroke were more likely to require mechanical ventilation (odds ratio [OR] 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.1–3.3; p