Central dural venous thrombosis presenting with lateral rectus palsy in pregnancy

Abstract

Background: Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVT) is a rare neurological emergency that occurs more often among women during pregnancy and puerperium than the general population. Isolated cranial nerve palsies are uncommon in pregnant women and abducens nerve palsy during pregnancy is extremely rare. Methods: We report a case of a woman with hypothyroidism and gestational diabetes mellitus at 32+3 weeks of gestation who was diagnosed with gestational hypertension 2 weeks prior to the presentation of lateral rectus palsy.Conclusions: Therapeutic guidelines for CVT in pregnant women are difficult to establish, as the incidence of CVT in pregnancy is rare. If a patient presents with a new persistent headache and abnormalities on neurologic examination during pregnancy, obstetricians and neurologists should consider CVT, and MRI should be performed immediately.