This study aimed to evaluate the early imaging characteristics of cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (CVST). A retrospective analysis was conducted of the clinical and imaging data of 62 patients with CVST diagnosed by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and/or digital subtraction angiography (DSA). In the 62 cases, MRI (1.5 T MRI) and magnetic resonance venography (MRV) examinations were conducted for 56 cases, and 54 of these were definitely diagnosed as CVST cases. Their MRI manifestations presented punctiform and sheet-like hemorrhagic cerebral infarction and extensive brain edema while partial cases presented cerebral ventricle dilation. In addition, MRI, MRV and DSA examinations were conducted synchronously for 21 cases. Among the 20 patients whose MRI and MRV examinations were positive, 19 cases were positive by DSA examination and the coincidence rate of the two was 95.00%. The clinical manifestations of CVST lack specificity. MRI combined with MRV examination is the preferred method of diagnosing CVST.