Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis due to Iron Deficiency Anemia in an Adolescent Girl

Abstract

Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST) is rare but now increasingly diagnosed in children. Early diagnosis is of prime importance as any delay leads to significant mortality and morbidity. It requires a high index of suspicion to diagnose CVST early as, often, the symptoms are vague and the signs are nonspecific. Varieties of aetiologies are described for generation of cerebral venous sinus thrombus. Iron deficiency anemia is one of the most important preventable causes of CVST. The most proposed mechanism in development of CVST in iron deficiency is secondary thrombocytosis. However, we describe a case of CVST due to iron deficiency in the absence of thrombocytosis.