Demonstration of dural sinus occlusion by the use of MR angiography.

Thrombosis involving the dural venous sinuses is a wellknown clinical entity. Patients present with a variety of symptoms, which can include headache, nausea, vomiting, seizures, and focal neurologic deficits [1]. Before the advent of antibiotics, dural sinus thrombosis was commonly seen in conjunction with mastoiditis or uncontrolled facial infections [2]. Other recognized causes of dural sinus thrombosis include pregnancy (or oral contraceptives) , malignancies, and head injuries [1-3]. Rarely, dural sinus thrombosis may be associated with systemic lupus erythematos4s [1], homocystinuria [4] , or Beh9et disease [5]. Traditionar·radiologic diagnosis of dural sinus thrombosis has relied heavily on the use of cerebral angiography. Other useful imaging methods include digital subtraction angiography [5], scintigraphy [6, 7], sonography [8], CT [9], and MR imaging [1 0, 11]. With MR, the diagnosis of sinus thrombosis is made by the demonstration of a lack of flow void normally present within these structures. Routine spin-echo imaging uses signal information predominantly from stationary spins. By tailoring . MR pulse sequences, images consisting of information only from moving spins can be formed. This technique has been referred to as MR angiography [12] . We demonstrate the application of this new process in the diagnosis of dural venous thrombosis.