Age of onset of cerebral venous thrombosis: the BEAST study.

BACKGROUND

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is an uncommon cause of stroke in young adults. We aimed to determine the impact of age, gender and risk factors (including sex-specific) on CVT onset.

METHODS

We used data from the BEAST (Biorepository to Establish the Aetiology of Sinovenous Thrombosis), a multicentre multinational prospective observational study on CVT. Composite factors analysis (CFA) was performed to determine the impact on the age of CVT onset in males and females.

RESULTS

A total of 1309 CVT patients (75.3% females) aged ⩾18 years were recruited. The overall median (IQR-interquartile range) age for males and females was 46 (35-58) years and 37 (28-47) years ( < 0.001), respectively. However, the presence of antibiotic-requiring sepsis ( = 0.03, 95% CI 27-47 years) among males and gender-specific risk factors like pregnancy ( < 0.001, 95% CI 29-34 years), puerperium ( < 0.001, 95% CI 26-34 years) and oral contraceptive use ( < 0.001, 95% CI 33-36 years) were significantly associated with earlier onset of CVT among females. CFA demonstrated a significantly earlier onset of CVT in females, ~12 years younger, in those with multiple (⩾1) compared to '0' risk factors ( < 0.001, 95% CI 32-35 years).

CONCLUSIONS

Women suffer CVT 9 years earlier in comparison to men. Female patients with multiple (⩾1) risk factors suffer CVT ~12 years earlier compared to those with no identifiable risk factors.