Endovascular treatment of vena cava superior syndrome caused by COVID-19 infection using AngioJet thrombectomy

Successful percutaneous transluminal angioplasty to treat superior vena cava syndrome

“…Depending on the cause, the treatment of SVC includes radiotherapy or chemotherapy, systemic anticoagulation, or thrombolysis and endovascular techniques [2]. The latter include percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and stenting [3], or thrombectomy [4]. Endovascular techniques have higher efficacy for symptom relief (80%-95%), compared to radiotherapy (56%-96%) and chemotherapy (59%-77%) [2], with a relatively low complication rate (0%-19%) [3].…”

“…Although malignancy remains the most prevalent cause of SVCS, the non-malignancy causes are increasing, including thrombus or obstruction due to repeated implantable cardiac device implantation [3]. In the case of thrombosis caused by COVID-19, successful rheolytic thrombectomy with AngioJet (Boston Scientific, Marlborough, MA, US) has recently been reported; the device is also used for endovascular treatment of acute pulmonary embolism [4,5]. In the case of intravascular devices, stent implantation, usually followed by oral anticoagulation, is the treatment of choice.…”