Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis secondary to typhoid fever: a case report and brief summary of the literature.

BACKGROUND

There have been few reports of typhoid fever (or salmonellosis) presenting with cerebral venous sinus thrombosis. We present such a case to highlight the importance of recognizing an etiology for cerebral sinus thrombosis and to discuss the role of salmonella in thrombogenesis.

PATIENT: A 19-year-old man with a history of migraine presented with headache, nausea, vomiting, and fever, and was found to have a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis on magnetic resonance venography. He later developed profuse watery diarrhea and cultures grew salmonella species, consistent with typhoid fever.

RESULTS

Treatment with antibiotics and oral anticoagulation led to resolution of his symptoms within 2 days and recanalization of the thrombosis was proven on magnetic resonance venography 6 months later.

CONCLUSIONS

The development of profuse diarrhea after thrombosis suggests a direct thrombogenic effect of salmonella independent of dehydration. Systemic infections should be considered in all patients with thrombosis to identify treatable causes.