Superior vena cava syndrome: Clinical considerations

Abstract

Background

The superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) is a rare pathological process caused by the superior vena cava obstruction (SVCO).

Aim

To know the main causes of SVCS in a third level hospital.

Material and methods

Observational, prospective and descriptive study in 31 patients with SVCS treated between June 2013 and December 2014. Yale, Stanford scores and tumour biopsy were obtained at diagnosis.

Results

The main causes of SVCS were malignant tumours: lung cancer (22.5%) and lymphoma (16.1%). For lung cancer, the most common was non small cells (57.1%) and lymphoma was non-Hodgkin (80%).

Conclusions

The main causes of SVCS are advanced malignant tumours like lung cancer and lymphomas, benign obstruction causes are relatively rare.