• Takeshi Nagata, Shiro Makutani, Hideo Uchida, Kimihiko Kichikawa, Munehiro Maeda, Tetsuya Yoshioka, Hiroshi Anai, Hiroshi Sakaguchi, and Hitoshi Yoshimura.
• Department of Radiology and Interventional Center, Daiyukai General Hospital, 1-9-9 Sakura, Ichinomiya, Aichi 491-8551, Japan. t-nagata@remus.dti.ne.jp
• Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol. 2007 Sep 1;30(5):959-67.

PurposeTo retrospectively clarify the utility of metallic stent placement for the treatment of the malignant obstruction of the superior vena cava (SVC) in 71 patients with VC syndrome (SVCS) on the basis of long-term follow-up data.Materials And MethodsSeventy-one patients underwent stent placement and were followed until death. The applicability of the spiral Z-stent (S-Z-stent) mainly used the initial and follow-up results, stent placement for bilateral BCV obstruction and the value of concurrent anticancer therapy were studied.ResultsThe technical success rate was 100%, the initial clinical success rate was 87% (62/71), the primary clinical patency rate was 88% (57/65), and the secondary clinical patency rate was 95% (62/65). The obstruction rate of the stent was 12% (8/65), and an additional stent was useful for relief of recurrent SVCS. Survival of 57 patients in whom there was no recurrence of SVCS until death ranged from 1 week to 29 months (mean, 5.4 months and the S-Z-stent appeared to be suitable for the treatment of the malignant obstruction of SVC. Unilateral stent placement was effective for relief of SVCS with bilateral BCV obstruction. Patients who received concurrent anticancer therapy survived 2 months longer than those who did not.ConclusionStent placement is an effective treatment for SVCS. Further, the utility of S-Z-stent for SVCS, an additional stent for recurrence, unilateral stent for patients with bilateral BCV obstruction, and anticancer therapy after stent placement were verified.

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