Objectives: To compare the prevalence of prothrombin G20210A in patients with objectively confirmed cerebral vein or cortical vein thrombosis against healthy controls, and evaluate geographical variations.
Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis of case control studies.
Methods: We conducted a systematic review of electronic databases including MEDLINE and EMBASE. The main outcome was the prevalence of prothrombin G20210A in patients with objectively confirmed cerebral vein or cortical vein thrombosis; we also analyzed individual country variations in the prevalence. The random-effects model OR was used as the primary outcome measure.
Results: In total 19 studies evaluated 868 cases of cerebral venous thrombosis and 3981 controls. Prothrombin G20210A was found in 103/868 of the patients with cerebral venous thrombosis and 105/3999 of the healthy controls [random effects pooled OR 5.838, 95% CI 3.96 to 8.58; I217.9%]. The prevalence of prothrombin G20210A was significantly elevated in Italian studies (OR 9.69), in Brazilian studies (OR 7.02), and in German studies (OR 3.77), but not in Iranian studies (OR 0.98).
Conclusion: Prothrombin G20210A is significantly associated with cerebral venous thrombosis when compared to healthy controls, although this association is highly dependent on the country of origin.