Cerebral Venous Sinus Thrombosis Associated with Dutasteride Use

In 2020, a case study reported a 25-year-old male who developed Cerebral Venous Thrombosis (CVT), a rare cause of stroke, after using dutasteride for alopecia treatment. The patient had been taking 0.5 mg of dutasteride every other day for 9 months. He developed a headache 7 months into the treatment, and horizontal diplopia (double vision) occurred 1 month after the onset of the headache. Brain imaging showed thrombosis in the left sigmoid and transverse sinuses. His symptoms improved after discontinuing dutasteride and starting anticoagulation. This was the first reported case of CVT potentially caused by dutasteride use. The researchers suggested that the increased estrogen level due to dutasteride use might have caused the formation of a thrombus. They concluded that the risk of CVT should be considered when prescribing dutasteride for alopecia.