Intravascular tumors: transvenous biopsy.

Abstract

A technique is described for transfemoral biopsy of intravenous tumors. Positive results were obtained at biopsy in three patients who had an intraluminal mass in the inferior vena cava and in one patient with a mass in the iliac vein. Transvenous biopsy is helpful in obtaining a histologic diagnosis and provides an alternative method to surgery or percutaneous transabdominal needle biopsy.

Transvenous Biopsy of Cavo-Atrial Tumors with the Quick-Core Needle

“…As the pertinent literature consists mostly of case reports, no conclusion can be drawn regarding the technique that should be chosen for cavo-atrial tumors. Moreover, as these tumors are often coated with appositional clots, a false-positive diagnosis of thrombus may mask an underlying malignant tumor [6,9,15,16].…”

Transcaval Biopsy of Retroperitoneal Fibrosis

“…As expected, there is too little experience with transvenous sampling of intravascular caval malignant tumors using forceps biopsies to evaluate this risk [14]. As the specimen was encapsulated at withdrawal of the Trucut needle, the chance of tissue embolization might be even lower.…”

Intracaval Extension of Germ Cell Carcinoma: Diagnosis via Endovascular Biopsy and a Review of the Literature

“…Several techniques have been de scribed, including aspiration biopsy, brush biopsy, and, as in our case, forceps biopsy [22][23][24][25][26], The literature regard ing endovascular biopsy is limited, and no systematic assessment of the various approaches is available. Of the 12 reported cases with endovascular biopsy of IVC masses, 10 were biopsied from a transfemoral approach without complications.…”

“…Of the 2 cases biopsied from above the obstruction, 1 patient developed symptoms and scintigraphic findings compatible with pulmonary embo lism [23]. Types of tumors successfully diagnosed by endovascular biopsy include renal cell carcinoma, hepato cellular carcinoma, leiomyosarcoma, and lymphoma [26] result from careful assessment of the risks and benefits in the individual patient.…”