Venous Strokes

Abstract

Management of Venous strokes with the KEM Protocol. Our experience in management of acute and sub-acute cases of venous strokes with heparin or local thrombolysis with urokinase according to KEM Hospital, INR protocol will be presented. All patients included had angiographically proven cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. Patients were classified according to clinical status scale into mild1–3 and severe clinical grade4–6. The study was divided into three phases. Phase I included 27 patients all treated with systemic heparin. Phase Il included 72 patients, 30 were in severe clinical grade and 52 in mild. 26 were thrombolysed with 14 in severe and 12 in mild clinical grade. A prospective study was carried out in 180 patients according to a defined protocol in Phase 111. 133 of these were in mild clinical grade and 47 in the severe. 67 patients were thrombolysed. In the thrombolysed group 27 patients were in mild & 40 in severe clinical grade. 113 patients were treated with systemic heparin. Adjunctive medical therapy was given as required. Following acute management all were anticoagulated for 6 months. Phase I showed 100% mortality in severe clinical group and 23.53% in mild clinical grade. In Phase II mortality in severe clinical group was 75% in non-thrombolysed group and 57.14% in thrombolysed group. There were no deaths in mild clinical grade patients who were thrombolysed. In Phase 111 in Severe clinical grade, mortality in thrombolysed group was 35% and non-thrombolysed group was 100%. In mild clinical group there was 100% recovery in thrombolysed group and 94.4% in non-thrombolysed group. There was complete clinical recovery in 84.4% of patients in Phase 111. 2 patients had intracranial haemorrhage on Urokinase therapy. The line of treatment of venous strokes with heparin or local thrombolysis can be decided according to the KEM protocol. Patients with Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis had better outcome when managed according to our protocol.