Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis presenting in the puerperium

Abstract

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis is an uncommon disorder that can present with a wide range of signs and symptoms. We describe a case presenting in the puerperium of a young woman and the investigations undertaken. A 27 year old woman with a 10 day history of an increasing dull headache presented to the emergency department with three tonic-clonic seizures over a 90 minute period. Each seizure lasted between one and two minutes in duration. She was three weeks post partum following a normal vaginal delivery. The pregnancy was healthy with no complications. There was no history of epilepsy. On examination her airway was maintained with a nasopharyngeal airway. Air entry was equal bilaterally. Basic observations revealed: heart rate 68 beats/min, blood pressure 108/56 mm Hg, temperature 36.8 °C …