Teaching NeuroImages: Fetal deep medullary vein thrombosis presenting as progressive intracerebral hemorrhage

Cerebral venous thrombosis and deep medullary vein thrombosis: Padua experience over the last two decades

BACKGROUND

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a cerebrovascular disorder that accounts for 20% of perinatal strokes. CVT incidence ranges from 0.67 to 1.12 per 100,000 newborns, while the incidence of "deep medullary vein thrombosis" (DMVT), a subtype of CVT, cannot be accurately estimated. This study aims to analyze the case history of CVT in the neonatal period, with a specific focus on DMVT.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Newborns diagnosed with CVT, with or without DMVT, between January 2002 and April 2023, were collected using the Italian Registry of Infantile Thrombosis (RITI). Cerebral MRIs were reviewed by an expert neuroradiologist following a standardized protocol.

RESULTS

Forty-two newborns with CVT were identified, of which 27/42 (64%) had CVT, and the remaining 15/42 (36%) had DMVT (isolated DMVT in 9/15). Symptom onset occurred in the first week of life (median 8 days, IQR 4-14) with a male prevalence of 59%. The most common risk factors for CVT were complicated delivery (38%), prematurity (40%), congenital heart diseases (48%), and infections (40%). Seizures were the predominant presenting symptom in 52% of all cases. Hemorrhagic infarction was higher in cases with isolated DMVT (77%) compared to patients with CVT without DMVT (p = 0.013). Antithrombotic treatment was initiated in 36% of patients. Neurological impairment was observed in 48% of cases at discharge, while 18 out of 31 infants (58%) presented one or more neurological deficits at long term follow up.     Conclusion: DMVT occurs in over a third of neonates with CVT. Multicentric studies are essential to establish standardized protocols for therapy, neuroimaging, and follow-up in these patients.

Deep Medullary Vein Thrombosis in Newborns: A Systematic Literature Review

BACKGROUND

Deep medullary vein (DMV) thrombosis is a rare cause of brain damage in both preterm and full-term neonates. In this study, we aimed to collect data on clinical and radiological presentation, treatment, and outcome of neonatal DMV thrombosis.

METHODS

Systematic literature review on neonatal DMV thrombosis was carried out in PubMed, ClinicalTrial.gov, Scopus, and Web of Science up to December 2022.

RESULTS

Seventy-five published cases of DMV thrombosis were identified and analysed (preterm newborns were 46%). Neonatal distress, respiratory resuscitation, or need for inotropes were present in 34/75 (45%) of patients. Signs and symptoms at presentation included seizures (38/75, 48%), apnoea (27/75, 36%), lethargy or irritability (26/75, 35%). At magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), fan-shaped linear T2 hypointense lesions were documented in all cases. All had ischaemic injuries, most often involving the frontal (62/74, 84%) and parietal lobes (56/74, 76%). Signs of haemorrhagic infarction were present in 53/54 (98%). Antithrombotic treatment was not mentioned in any of the studies included. Although mortality was low (2/75, 2.6%), a large proportion of patients developed neurological sequelae (intellectual disability in 19/51 [37%] and epilepsy in 9/51 [18%] cases).

CONCLUSIONS

DMV thrombosis is rarely identified in the literature, even if it is possibly under-recognized or under-reported. Presentation in neonatal age is with seizures and non-specific systemic signs/symptoms that often cause diagnostic delay, despite the pathognomonic MRI picture. The high rate of morbidity, which determines significant social and health costs, requires further in-depth studies aimed at earlier diagnosis and evidence-based prevention and therapeutic strategies.

Deep Medullary Vein White Matter Injury Global Severity Score Predicts Neurodevelopmental Impairment

AIM

To examine associations between the deep medullary vein white matter injury global severity scoring system and neurodevelopmental impairment.

METHODS

This is a prospective observational cohort study of infants born at ≥32 weeks, diagnosed with deep medullary vein thrombosis and infarction on neuroimaging in the first month of life. Developmental testing was performed using validated measures for early, preschool, and school-age follow-up.

RESULTS

Nineteen (37%) patients had major neurodevelopmental impairment. Global severity score was higher among patients with neurodevelopmental impairment (21.6 vs 13.4, P = .04). Overall, 78% of patients with epilepsy had neurodevelopmental impairment. A greater degree of asymmetry with right-sided injury predominance was associated with lower Bayley-III cognitive scores and presence of neurodevelopmental impairment (P < .01).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest a need for targeted clinical surveillance for patients with a high global severity score and/or asymmetric, predominantly right cerebral white matter injury and for those who develop epilepsy.

Neonatal Neuroimaging

Significant advances in the field of neonatal imaging has resulted in the generation of large complex data sets of relevant information for routine daily clinical practice, and basic and translational research. The evaluation of this data is a complex task for the neonatal imager who must distinguish normal and incidental findings from clinically significant abnormalities which are often adjunctive data points applicable to clinical evaluation and treatment. This review provides an overview of the imaging manifestations of disease processes commonly encountered in the neonatal brain. Since MRI is currently the highest yield technique for the diagnosis and characterization of the normal and abnormal brain, it is therefore the focus of the majority of this review. When applicable, discussion of some of the pertinent known pathophysiology and neuropathological aspects of disease processes are reviewed.

Isolated superior striate vein thrombosis in adults

BACKGROUND

Isolated cerebral deep medullary vein thrombosis has been described in the setting of hemorrhagic periventricular white matter lesions in preterm and full-term neonates, but to the best of our knowledge, has never been reported in adults. We present two cases of isolated thrombosis of the superior striate vein occurring in adults that could be analogous to deep medullary vein thrombosis in that they involve deep cerebral veins only without thrombosis of the subependymal or internal cerebral veins.

CASE DESCRIPTION

Two women aged 20 and 39, presented with transient neurological deficits and headache. Diagnosis of isolated superior striate vein thrombosis was based on CT and MRI findings with long term imaging follow-up. Both patients evolved favorably under conservative treatment without anticoagulation. Thrombophilia workup was negative and both patients were active smokers under oral contraception.

CONCLUSION

Isolated superior striate vein thrombosis is a rare form of intracranial venous thrombosis and should be considered in the differential diagnosis of stroke-like episodes with headache in adults. Isolated superior striate vein thrombosis presents with characteristic imaging features on CT and MRI.

MR Imaging Scoring System for White Matter Injury after Deep Medullary Vein Thrombosis and Infarction in Neonates

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE

Advanced imaging techniques have allowed earlier and more accurate detection of cerebral deep medullary vein thrombosis and infarction. Our objective was to develop an MR imaging scoring system to evaluate the severity of white matter injury in neonates with deep medullary vein thrombosis and infarction.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This was a retrospective study of infants born ≥32 weeks' gestation (2000-2016) diagnosed with deep medullary vein thrombosis and infarction on neuroimaging in the first 30 days of life. A 102-point deep medullary vein white matter injury global severity score was developed. MR images were scored by 2 pediatric radiologists. Subject clinical data and regional and global severity scores were recorded.

RESULTS

Fifty-one patients (mean gestational age, 37.3 ± 2.2 weeks; mean birth weight, 3182 ± 720 g) were included with a mean age at diagnosis via MR imaging of postnatal day 10.1 ± 6.1. Global severity scores ranged from 1 to 53, with a median score of 11 (interquartile range, 5-25). Lesions were more common in the frontal and parietal regions and less common in the occipital and temporal regions. Fifty-five percent of the group had neonatal seizures. No difference in perinatal risk factors (gestational age, birthweight, 5-minute Apgar score, chorioamnionitis, delivery room resuscitation, ventilator, or inotrope requirement) was observed among severity score quartiles.

CONCLUSIONS

An MR imaging scoring system provides a comprehensive and objective classification of WM injury after deep medullary vein thrombosis and infarction in late preterm and term neonates. The global severity score is independent of gestational age and other antenatal risk factors, consistent with presentation in previously healthy-appearing neonates.