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Management of lateral sinus thrombosis: update and literature review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 May 2006

Eng Hooi Ooi
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory, Australia.
Malcolm Hilton
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory, Australia.
Garrett Hunter
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Royal Darwin Hospital, Northern Territory, Australia.
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Abstract

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The management of four cases of lateral sinus thrombosis (LST) over a four-year period at the Royal Darwin Hospital is presented in this retrospective review. The patients were aboriginal and presented with otalgia, otorrhoea and sepsis. Two cases had an associated complication of an otitic hydrocephalus and a subperiosteal abscess. Cholesteatoma was found in three cases. Computed tomography (CT) scan confirmed the LST in three cases. Three patients were anaemic and thrombocytopenic. All patients had positive blood cultures. The organismswere predominantly mixed anaerobes and Bacteroides species. Three patients were managed surgically as a two-stage procedure. One patient was managed as a single-stage procedure with a modified radical mastoidectomy. Therapeutic anticoagulation was utilized in one case. There were no deaths. The prognosis of LST is good if treatment is instituted early with broad-spectrum intravenous antibiotics and surgery. Therole of clot removal at surgery and the use of anticoagulation are discussed in this paper.

Type
Review Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2003