[Postpartum cerebral sinus thrombosis leading to death of a young woman].

Of all cerebral sinus thromboses, 5 to 20% occur in connection with pregnancy or childbirth, or during the puerperium. The risk is highest during the first month following delivery. Approximately half of the women developing sinus thrombosis possess several concomitant risk factors predisposing to venous thrombosis, and about a fifth of them have a trombophilic disorder. We describe a postpartum cerebral sinus thrombosis leading with the associated complications to the patient's death. The patient was afterwards shown to possess the most common factor predisposing to venous thrombosis, the factor V Leiden mutation.