International practice patterns and perspectives on endovascular therapy for the treatment of cerebral venous thrombosis

Background: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) accounts for 0.5–1% of all strokes. The role of endovascular therapy (EVT) in the management of CVT remains controversial and variations in practice patterns are not well known. Aims: Here, we present a comprehensive, international characterization of practice patterns and perspectives on the use of EVT for CVT. Methods: A comprehensive 42-question survey was distributed to stroke clinicians globally from May to October 2023, asking about practice patterns and perspectives on the use of EVT for CVT. Results: The overall response rate was 31% (863 respondents of 2744 invited) across 61 countries. The majority of respondents (74%) supported the use of EVT for CVT in certain clinical situations. Key considerations for decision-making in using EVT favored clinical over radiographic/procedural factors and included worsening level of consciousness (86%) and worsening neurological deficits (76%). In the past 3 years, 56% of respondents used EVT for the treatment of CVT, with most (49.5%) involved in two to five cases. Among interventionalists, significant variability existed in the techniques used for EVT (p < 0.001), with aspiration thrombectomy (56%) and stent retriever (51%) being the most used overall. Regionally, interventionalists from China predominantly used intra-sinus heparin (56%), while this technique was most commonly ranked as “never indicated” throughout the rest of the world (23%). Post-procedure, low molecular weight heparin was the most used anticoagulant (83%), although North American respondents favored unfractionated heparin (37%), while imaging was primarily split between magnetic resonance (71.8%) and computed tomography (65.9%) arteriography or venography. Conclusion: Our survey reveals significant heterogeneity in approaches to EVT for CVT, and provides a comprehensive characterization of indications, techniques, and long-term management used by clinicians internationally. This resource will aid in optimizing patient selection and endovascular treatments for future trials.