Cerebral Venous Thrombosis-A Case Series

Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) is a type of cerebrovascular disease that can occur at any age and it accounts for 0•5% of all strokes. Eventhough the disease is well understood, nursing studies reporting the clinical features and the various nursing problems in these patients is less. This case series of ten patients was undertaken to describe the clinical and demographic characteristics of patients admitted in the emergency department with a clinical diagnosis of cerebral venous thrombosis. Nine out of ten patients in the series were females. Out of the nine females eight were in the peurperium and one was pregnant. The most common clinical manifestations identified were headache, seizures, focal neurological deficits and altered consciousness which occurred alone as well as in combination. The duration between onset of symptoms and admission ranged from 1 to 7 days. The severity of stroke as measured by National Institute of Health Stroke Scale ranged from 0 to 22 with a mean of 8. It was observed that forced restriction of fluid was practiced in the post partal period of CVT affected mothers. The most commonly identified nursing problems were pain (headache), activity intolerance , fatigue , interrupted breast feeding, imbalanced nutrition less than body requirements , self care deficit and risk for injury related to anticoagulation and seizures. The observations in this case series when seen in light of the existing knowledge makes it explicit that the occurrence of CVT in India is very high among females especially related to pregnancy and child birth. Early recognition of the symptoms of CVT and educating the public regarding the importance of fluid intake during pregnancy and should be done by the nurses involved in the care of pregnant and puerperal mothers.