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Background: 

Severe cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) patients often require neurointensive care with multimodal monitoring. However, optimal treatment targets for intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), and cerebral autoregulation remain unclear. This study investigated the relationships between ICP, CPP, and autoregulation indices (PRx, optimal CPP [CPPopt]) with clinical outcomes in severe CVT.

Methods: 

This observational study included 15 patients with severe CVT with ICP-monitoring, treated in the neurointensive care (NIC) unit, Uppsala. The percentage of eligible monitoring time (EMT) outside certain thresholds was calculated for ICP, PRx, CPP, and ΔCPPopt (CPP-CPPopt) and analysed in relation to outcome (Glasgow Outcome at Discharge Scale [GODS]). Outcome heatmaps were generated to visualize transitions from better to worse outcomes for single variables and 2 variables (ICP, CPP, or ΔCPPopt in combination with PRx).

Results: 

Median %EMT for ICP>20 mm Hg and CPP<60 mm Hg was <5%. Higher %EMT for ICP>20 mm Hg (r=−0.60, P=0.02) correlated with worse outcome (lower GODS). The median %EMT of impaired cerebral pressure autoregulation was 34%. Outcome heatmaps indicated transitions toward worse outcome when PRx exceeded zero and ΔCPPopt became negative, but these correlations were not significant. Higher PRx reduced the safe ICP and CPP range, in 2-variable heatmaps.

Conclusions: 

A higher %EMT of ICP>20 mm Hg was unfavorable in severe CVT. Impaired cerebral autoregulation with high PRx was frequent and may reduce the safe ICP/CPP range. Larger, multi-centre studies are needed to validate these findings in this rare condition.