Introduction: Cerebral venous thrombosis (CVT) accounts for less than 1% of strokes in Western countries, and probably more in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The aim of this study was to investigate CVT in the University Hospital Centres (UHC) of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

Patients and methods: This was a prospective, multicentre, cross-sectional hospital-based study in the University Hospital of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, from 1 June 2018 to 31 January 2023. It concerned patients admitted for CVT confirmed by the demonstration of a thrombus seated in the dural sinus and/or cortical vein on brain CT or MRI. The socio-demographic, clinical, paraclinical, aetiological and evolutionary characteristics of the patients were analysed using Epi-Info 7.2.5.0 software.

Results: We consecutively included 37 patients (1% of all strokes), predominantly female (64.9%), with an average age of 38.2 years. The clinical picture was polymorphous, dominated by focal neurological deficit in 24 cases (64.9%), intracranial hypertension (ICHT) in 18 cases (48.6%) and epileptic seizures in 12 cases (32.4%). On neuroimaging, the most frequent topographies were the lateral sinus with 23 cases (62%), followed by the superior sagittal sinus with 16 cases (43%) and multiple localisations with 9 cases (24%). Cerebral oedema in 18 cases (48.6%), cerebral infarction in 7 cases (18.9%) and meningoencephalitis in 6 cases (16.2%) were the other cranioencephalic lesions most frequently found on neuroimaging. Isolated or associated aetiological factors were found in 29 patients (78.4%), dominated by gynaeco-obstetrical factors in 13 patients (35.1%) and cervicocephalic infections in 12 patients (32.4%). Clinical outcome on curative anticoagulants was favourable in 35 patients (94.6%); 2 patients (5.4%) died in hospital.

Conclusion: CVT accounts for 1% of strokes in Ouagadougou. Our study confirms the clinical and paraclinical polymorphism and good prognosis of CVT. However, aetiological factors are dominated by gravidopuerperal factors and cervicocephalic infections.

CVT, focal neurological deficit, intracranial hypertension, lateral sinus, superior sagittal sinus, gravido-puerperal aetiological factors, cervicocephalic infections, Ouagadougou University Hospital