08 December 2025
: Case report 
Diagnostic Challenges of Cerebral Venous Thrombosis Mimicking Brain Tumor: A Case Report
Unusual clinical course, Mistake in diagnosis, Unusual or unexpected effect of treatment, Educational Purpose (only if useful for a systematic review or synthesis)
Xingyang Niu ABEF 1, Shuai Li CEF 2, Jiaoxing Li BCE 1, Ran Wang CD 3, Wenli Sheng AEG 1*DOI: 10.12659/AJCR.949234
Am J Case Rep 2025; 26:e949234
Table 1 Summary of previously reported cerebral venous thrombosis mimicking brain tumor cases.
| Author, year | Age/sex | Clinical manifestations | D-dimer | Imaging presentation | Primary diagnosis | Evidence of definitive diagnosis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bakshi et al, 1998 | 26Y/F | Headaches, nausea, and vomiting | Not mentioned | Brain tumor | DSA | |
| Bakshi et al, 1998 | 39Y/F | Headache, aphasia, right-sided weakness, and seizure | Not mentioned | Brain tumor | Protein C deficiency* | |
| Bakshi et al, 1998 | 32Y/F | Headache and seizure | Not mentioned | Brain tumor | Frozen section and histopathology | |
| Gradinscak et al, 2004 | 18Y/M | Right hemiparesis | Not mentioned | Infiltrative tumor | Frozen section and histopathology | |
| Xu et al, 2019 | 53Y/M | Headache | High | Angiogenic tumor | Frozen section and histopathology | |
| Gündoğan et al, 2019 | 68Y/F | Headache | Not mentioned | Primary brain tumor or metastasis | MRV | |
| Masuoka et al, 2009 | 77Y/F | Vertigo, nausea, and gait disturbance | Normal | Malignant glioma | DSA | |
| Wen et al, 2021 | 62Y/M | Recurrent vertigo, vomiting, ataxia and mild dysarthria | Normal | Brain tumor | Brain biopsy | |
| Haug et al, 2009 | 20Y/F | Left-sided hemiparesis | High | Brain tumor | Brain biopsy | |
| Yu et al, 2016 | 36Y/M | Numbness and weakness of the right limbs | Normal | Glioma | Brain biopsy | |
| Yu et al, 2016 | 19Y/F | Headache and seizure | Normal | Glioma | Brain biopsy | |
| Yu et al, 2016 | 32Y/M | Numbness and weakness in the left limbs | Normal | Glioma | Brain biopsy | |
| Yu et al, 2016 | 23Y/F | Headache and seizure | High | Brain tumor | Brain biopsy | |
| CT – computed tomography; CVTMBT – cerebral venous thrombosis mimicking brain tumor; DSA – digital subtraction angiography; FDG – fluorodeoxyglucose; MRV – magnetic resonance venography; PET – positron emission tomography; T1 – T1-weighted image; T1+C – T1-weighted image with contrast medium; T2 – T2-weighted image. * Protein C deficiency was reported in the original article as a risk factor rather than as definitive diagnostic evidence. | ||||||