Symptoms of impaired cerebral venous hemodynamics in adolescents with connective tissue dysplasia

The aim of the paper was to study clinical manifestations of cerebral venous insufficiency in adolescents with connective tissue dysplasia (CTD). Materials and Methods. The authors examined 156 adolescents. The main group consisted of 82 adolescents with CTD symptoms. The comparison group included 74 adolescents without CTD manifestations. Connective tissue dysplasia was assessed according to L.N. Abakumova scoring system (2006). Patient intake and examination revealed clinical signs of cerebral venous insufficiency. Results. The following complaints were peculiar for the patients of the main group: headache, which intensity increased when working in an inclined position, during or after a nocturnal sleep, with coughing and on straining, and decreased in the afternoon and after moderate physical activity; vertigo, which worsened in case of postural change, head rotation and bending; puffiness/pasty face and eyelids in the morning, “high pillow" symptom, “tight collar" symptom, sandy-gritty sensation in the morning; nightmares, frequent night awakenings because of the headaches; nasal stuffiness without ARD symptoms. The patients of the main group also demonstrated symptoms of cerebral venous insufficiency: facial puffiness, eyelid swelling; sclera injection; venous network on the anterior chest / neck; lip or nasolabial triangle cyanosis, hypoesthesia of the 1st or 2nd branch of the trigeminal nerve. Conclusion. Clinical symptoms of cerebral venous insufficiency are more prominent in adolescents with CTD than in the comparison group. This fact indicates the need for early detection of venous hemodynamic disorders, subsequent dynamic monitoring and preventive measures to avoid the early development of cerebrovascular diseases in adolescents.