Objective To report two cases of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis complicated with subdural effusion and make a general review on the correlative literature. Methods Based on the literature review, two cases of venous sinus thrombosis were analyzed in the aspects including subdural effusion, clinical characteristics, auxiliary examination and therapeutic schedule. Results One patient fully recovered after operation and subdural effusion disappeared, while the other case complicated with intracranial hematoma and had long-term coma but his subdural effusion disappeared. Conclusions Venous sinus thrombosis is relatively rare in clinic, and the clinical manifestations are diverse. The possibility of venous sinus thrombosis should also be consi-
dered when patients have unexplained subdural effusion.