Successful treatment of superior vena cava syndrome with mechanical thrombectomy following failed thrombolytic therapy

Superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS) is a collection of debilitating symptoms resulting from superior vena cava (SVC) obstruction, often due to thrombus. Conventional treatment includes anticoagulation, thrombolysis, venoplasty, or stenting, either independently or in combination. However, these methods cannot effectively remove organized thrombus. In venous territories outside of the SVC, mounting evidence has shown that mechanical thrombectomy is an effective treatment that can remove thrombus of any chronicity. The InThrill thrombectomy system is a thrombolytic-free mechanical thrombectomy device designed to extract acute to chronic thrombi from 4 to 10 mm vessels through a self-expanding coring element. Herein, we describe the first reported use of InThrill for successfully treating SVCS with extensive thrombosis of the bilateral brachiocephalic, subclavian, and axillary veins, following the failure of conventional methods.