Endovascular intervention for superior vena cava syndrome

  The superior vena cava is the largest and most important vein for the return of blood from the head, neck, arms and chest above to the heart. Therefore, superior vena cava obstruction can cause a variety of clinical symptoms, also known as superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS), which is a serious clinical condition. The majority of diseases causing SVCS are malignant, mainly lung cancer and mediastinal malignancies, of which lung cancer accounts for more than 80%, and right central lung cancer is predominant.  The main clinical symptoms and signs are: progressive dyspnea, swelling of the face, neck and upper limbs, dilated superficial veins of the chest and abdominal wall, bulbar conjunctival congestion, edema, blurred vision, dizziness, syncope, hoarseness, headache, nasal congestion, swollen tongue, nausea, wheezing, abnormal mental status, drowsiness, lethargy, coma (as a symptom of cerebral edema).  Central type lung cancer or malignant mediastinal tumor is often easily misdiagnosed on X-ray plain film diagnosis, and some patients have insidious onset. When they appear to have a fat face and rosy complexion, they still think their body is harmless or look good and delay the diagnosis, but they do not gain weight at this time, and they can often be combined with abnormal dark red and purple blood vessels in the chest and abdominal wall, their eyes look teary-eyed and their voice becomes hoarse; they need to go to the hospital for CT examination immediately.  Treatment methods can be summarized into two main categories: etiological treatment and symptom reduction treatment. Etiological treatment mainly includes radiotherapy, chemotherapy and surgical treatment, while decompensative treatment mainly aims to relieve symptoms and improve the quality of survival, mainly surgical bypass diversion, surgical superior vena cava reconstruction and endovascular intervention.  Since most malignant SVCS cannot be treated radically at the time of consultation and are not indicated for surgical reduction, endovascular intervention is a very important and minimally invasive means of reducing symptoms. Endovascular interventional treatment for SVCS mainly includes endoprosthesis, balloon dilation, thrombolysis and aspiration, the most important of which is endovascular stenting, with an efficiency of 90%, and most of the symptoms are relieved and disappear within 24 hours after the procedure.  The main indications include: 1, the first diagnosis of malignant superior vena cava stenosis and SVCS caused by obstruction, endovascular intervention is feasible, and the postoperative period does not affect radiation and chemotherapy and other antitumor treatment; 2, radiation and chemotherapy and other antitumor ineffective malignant superior vena cava stenosis, the lesion continues to progress, endovascular intervention should be performed in a timely manner, when the vessel is completely blocked the difficulty and risk of endovascular intervention greatly increases, and the success of the operation The difficulty and risk of endovascular intervention are greatly increased when the vessel is completely blocked, and the success rate of surgery is reduced; 3, various kinds of severe benign and malignant SVCS, such as laryngeal edema (severe respiratory distress), cerebral edema (syncope, coma), can be treated by emergency endovascular intervention.  4. Malignant superior vena cava syndrome with elbow vein higher than 20cmH2O and vascular stenosis of 70% or more.  Features of our hospital: 1.Preoperative CT and MRI angiography to clarify the degree of superior vena cava obstruction and to develop a complete endovascular intervention plan; 2.Endovascular intervention for malignant superior vena cava stenosis and obstruction along with endovascular intervention for primary lesions of thoracic tumors; 3.Endovascular intervention with various types of endovascular stents according to the nature of lesions and obstruction; 4.Endovascular intervention for We have rich experience in revascularization and reconstructive interventions for patients with complete superior vena cava obstruction.  5.At present, we have the largest annual volume of procedures in a single center at home and abroad, with about 100 cases treated annually.