039 Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and COVID-19: causation or coincidence?. Issue 6 (27th May 2022) - Crawford, James
Abstract : Since early in the pandemic, it has been recognised that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is associ- ated with an increased risk of thromboembolic complications. Several recent case reports have identified cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) occurring in conjunction with COVID-19. Given these patients' increased risk of thromboembolic events, some authors have hypothesised that there may be a causative association between the two conditions. To examine this hypothesis, we collected a retrospective case series of patients with CVST presenting to a large tertiary neurology centre and surrounding trusts in the North West of England between January 2019 and December 2020. The catchment area serves approximately 3.2 million people, of which all confirmed cases of CVST are discussed with tertiary services. We identified 46 cases of CVST during 2020, 5 of which were identified as having been positive for COVID-19 RNA or antibodies at the time of CVST diagnosis (10.87%). A comparative 52 cases of CVST were identified during 2019. We suggest our findings do not provide evidence for an association between CVST and COVID-19 based on overall incidence trends. However, we also suggest that further research should be undertaken regarding this potential association, with particular emphasis on COVID-19 antibody testing. jamiecrawford1995@gmail.com