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Superior vena cava syndrome
L S Arya1, Sunil Narain, Sanjay Tomar
1Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. lsarya@rediffmail.com
Objective:
In order to study the clinical profile of children presenting with superior vena cava syndrome (SVCS), case records of all children presenting with SVCS over a 10-year period were retrospectively analyzed.
Methods:
Twenty one children (20 males and 1 female) with a median age of 10.0 years (range 5.0 to 12.0 years) were detected to have an underlying hematological malignancy. T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia accounted for a major share (57%) in the underlying etiology; 33% of the subjects had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (T-cell lymphoblastic lymphoma).
Result:
No Patient required radiotherapy or urgent thoracotomy. Among survivors (n=11), who were alive and well at the time of writing this report, the median follow-up was 6.5 years, (range 0.5-9.6 years). T-cell ALL and lymphoblastic lymphoma are common underlying causes of SVCS in Indian children.
Conclusion:
The value of diagnostic interventions performed under local anaesthesia and prebiopsy corticosteroids usage was found to be reassuring since long-term survival without disease is achievable.