Safety and efficacy of the Abre™ venous stent in treating thoracic venous stenosis/occlusion: a single-center experience.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the clinical outcomes, technical success, and complications associated with the placement of Abre™ venous stents for central venous stenosis/occlusion (CVS/CVO).

Materials and methods: A retrospective review was conducted, identifying 21 patients who underwent Abre™ venous stent placement for SVC syndrome at a single institution. Demographic and clinical data were collected, including stent configurations, procedural details, and follow-up outcomes. Primary stent patency, symptom resolution, and survival rates were analyzed. Survival curves were generated using Kaplan-Meier analysis, and complications were recorded.

Results: Facial and/or upper extremity edema was present in all patients, and malignancy accounted for SVC syndrome in 71.4% of cases, with lung cancer as the predominant etiology (66.6%). The technical success rate was 100%. Clinical symptom resolution was achieved in all patients. The 30-day mortality rate was 23.8%, with all cases involving oncology patients. At six months, cross-sectional imaging showed a primary stent patency rate of 93%, and this remained stable through 12 months. The mean survival time for the cancer subgroup was 337.2 ± 343 days, while the overall cohort mean was 885.8 ± 453.7 days.

Conclusion: The Abre™ venous stent demonstrates potential as an effective stent for SVC syndrome, achieving high symptom relief and patency rates. However, further long-term studies and randomized controlled trials are necessary to validate these findings.